The Great Debt
by the one who conquers
Summary: Set during the Christmas season in the year 3450, The Bride of Dracula, Mina Harker, encounters many foes. Soon she would encounter the first vampire to walk the face of the earth. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

Introduction

**Introduction **

**PLANET**: Earth

**YEAR**: 3450

**POPULATION**: 80 Billion

HUMANS: 27 Billion

VAMPIRES: 24 Billion

ANDROIDS: 29 Billion

Earth, a planet created in seven days by the mighty hand of God. This is a planet that has been on the brink several times only to rise above the ashes. For centuries The United States of America held unto the title of World Superpower. In the year 2772 The Russian Federation and The People's Republic of China had advanced their economic and military capabilities to the highest degrees. In 2780 the United States would discover that she would soon share the title of World Superpower with Russia and China. In 2782 the ideologies of the United States, Russia and China began to clash giving rise to the Second Cold War. All three superpowers would soon engage in an arms race that spanned for the next 40 years. Russian and Chinese influence soon spread to the now secular Middle East where both superpowers provided military hardware and training to the Arab Alliance. In 2823 The Arab Alliance equipped with a Russian/Chinese supplied military invaded Israel. Five years as the conflict dragged on The United States started provided logistical support to Israel. Soon in 2829 The United States would deploy its military personnel to fight side by side with its long time alley. In 2830, Russia who was initially involved by proxy soon deployed their military personnel to fight on the side of the Arab Alliance.

In 2834, with the Middle Eastern conflict still continuing, China, in hopes to provide a strategic distraction for the United States invaded and occupied Japan and Taiwan. This invasion opened a new front in the conflict which would soon be known as The Great Attrition. Although it bore the hallmarks of the first two World Wars the general public avoided calling it World War III. With its forces stretched thin in the Middle East and in an effort to equip itself with enough manpower to end the Chinese occupation of Japan and Taiwan, the United States reconstituted the once abolished military draft. In 2836, with enough manpower and hardware, the United States engaged China within the heart of Chinese occupied Japan and Taiwan. It was a bloody effort that spanned over the next twenty-five years. Finally in 2862 China retreated from Japan and Taiwan. China would soon focus their efforts in assisting Russia and the Arab Alliance in the Middle East. In 2873, in an effort to end The Great Attrition, The United States launched nuclear attacks on Russia and China for the first time in centuries. Nuclear missiles were launched on twelve different cities within Russia and China resulting in massive loss of life and infrastructure. Surprisingly this did not diminish the will of both countries to continue fighting. The Great Attrition would go on for another twenty years until all four countries would come together to negotiate a cease-fire. In 2894 all four countries signed a peace treaty finally putting an end to the 74 year old Great Attrition. At that time The Great Attrition was the bloodiest conflict known to man. The costs were as follows:

**THE UNITED STATES**

MILITARY: 766,780

FINANCIAL: 21 Trillion

**THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION**

MILITARY: 805,897

CIVILIAN: 2,737,804

FINANCIAL: 30 Trillion

**THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA**

MILITARY: 1,677,900

CIVILIAN: 4,967,988

FINANCIAL: 50 Trillion

**ISRAEL**

MILITARY: 590,780

CIVILIAN: 3,534,785

FINANCIAL: 36 Trillion

**THE ARAB ALLIANCE**

MILITARY: 2,788,890

CIVILIAN: 4,750,888

FINANCIAL: 60 Trillion

By all estimates The Great Attrition severely affected The Arab Alliance. After the war ended most of The Arab Alliance's population was left impoverished and the governments within could no longer afford to rebuild the military of the Alliance. Never again would the Arab Alliance launch such a brazen attack. As for the three World Superpowers, The United States established a military presence within the Middle East for the first time in centuries and they along with Russia and China spent the next thirty years rebuilding their economic and military capabilities.

August 3rd, 2924 marked thirty years when The Great Attrition ended. However, on this day the United States suffered its first nuclear attack in centuries. On the early morning of that day the west coast was suddenly struck by a barrage of nuclear missiles. The surprise attack nearly wiped out major cities in California and the Washington state and caused massive loss of infrastructure and life. It was discovered that China had deployed unmanned stealth nuclear submarines in the Pacific and in the weeks that followed Russian involvement was uncovered. It was believed that the Russians assisted the Chinese by deploying unmanned flying stealth drones to locate specific targets. The attack was believed to be aimed at several military bases the United States had built along the west coast as a means for preparation for another possible confrontation with the other superpowers. One week after the attack the United States launched its own barrage of nuclear attacks on Russia and China. To the Americans' astonishment their nuclear missiles exploded in mid-air over China and Russia before they reached their targets. This was a result of nuclear missile defence systems Russia and China had built in the years following the end of The Great Attrition. On August 15th the United States engaged with China and Russia was again in a new conflict known as The Second Attrition. Like the war that preceded it, The Second Attrition was fought on land, air and sea. This new war saw the emergence of manlike machines both human-size and of towering stature. These machines were called Guardians that assisted all three superpowers. Two years after The Second Attrition, the U.S. cities of Detroit and Chicago were suddenly destroyed by hyper sonic beams that appeared to have come from outer space. It would soon be discovered that Russia and China had built laser systems over the earth capable of destroying any city within range. The United States had done the same following the end of The Great Attrition. The attacks on Detroit and Chicago would soon make space the new front in The Great Attrition. As the war dragged on all three superpowers began building defence systems capable of defense against nuclear and laser attacks.

The Second Attrition would drag on for next twenty years. On July 17th, 2945 The United States sought to put a quick end to the war by launching an invasion of Russia and China. The invasion was launched in secret as a means to catch the Russians and the Chinese off guard and for a hopeful collapse of both countries. The invasion was set in two phases: attacking both China and Russia by placing American troops deep within the heart of two countries and launching the attack from the Pacific. However, the United States never achieved the quick and easy victory it had hoped. The U.S. attack on Russia and China took longer than anticipated and the United States suffered heavy casualties and loss of equipment in their efforts to topple the Russian and Chinese governments. The ever powerful war making machine of the United States and the drafting of American civilians, however, made it possible for them to re-supply their efforts in the invasion of the other superpowers. The U.S. effort to annihilate Russia and China would drag on for fifty years until the United States finally withdrew their forces in the year 2995. It was during the time of the American invasion that Russia launched a counter-invasion of the United States in 2978. That year Russia deployed its troops and military Guardians in the American state of Alaska. The United States responded by deploying its military personnel and hardware to Alaska to repel the attack. The engagement lasted twenty years and finally ended with a Russian withdrawal from Alaska in 2999.

The 31st Century would open with the ongoing Second Attrition. At this time the war had spread to other countries within Europe causing death and destruction on a biblical scale. In space all three superpowers attacked each on the numerous planets they have established as military complexes. For the next seventy-four years it had seemed that there was no hope for The Second Attrition having a good outcome until all three superpowers came together once again to propose an armistice. This armistice was signed by the leaders of all countries on November 9th, 3076 finally putting an end to The Second Attrition. The Second Attrition was the longest and bloodiest conflict in history lasting a total of 152 years. The costs were as follows:

**THE UNITED STATES**

MILITARY: 7,802,786

CIVILIAN: 34,900,689

FINANCIAL: 75 Trillion

**THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION **

MILITARY: 13,933,000

CIVILIAN: 80,405,000

FINANCIAL: 88 Trillion

**THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA **

MILITARY: 50,755,500

CIVILIAN: 200 Million

FINANCIAL: 120 Trillion

The Second Attrition was also responsible for the deaths of 3 billion civilians in five nations. Years following the end of The Second Attrition the world experienced its most severe famine in centuries. Many the world over were left without homes and a severe shortage of food. Food prices soared and agriculture was impossible due to years of nuclear war. The famine would last forty years and would claim the lives of 6 billion people. The world spent two more centuries rebuilding its infrastructure and attending to the needs of the poor. During this time mankind was deemed infertile due to the radiant effects of the nuclear engagements of The Second Attrition. Birth rates fell dramatically and the human population was at its lowest in history. In the year 3238 the governments around the world started to finance the development of androids or droids to help replace the earth's dying human population. These droids were created to have the appearance and behaviour of humans and were also able to give birth to more human-like droids. By the year 3254 the android population grew to 5 billion. In 3267 the first human birth was reported. In Nigeria a human couple welcomed a baby girl into the world. From that moment on more and more human births would be reported over the next twenty years. At the time of the Nigerian girl's birth the human population was at 2 billion. Over the next thirty years the earth's human population grew to 8 billion. In the year 3312 the human population was 12 billion and the android population was at 15 billion. The growing human population would soon become threatened by the machines that emulated them; soon there were reports of hate crimes against androids in seven different countries. The governments would soon establish measures ensuring the safety of the android population. In the last years of the 34th Century the United States, Russia and China clashed once again. A new arms race began and a new clash of ideologies was ever more present between all three superpowers. These events would lead to the beginning of the Third Cold War. The world welcomed the beginning of the 35th Century on January 1st, 3400. For the next forty-five years the world experienced peace and prosperity despite the continuing arms race.

New York City, a city with a large population and one of the factors of the growing American economy was the place where I continued my long journey. I was born Wilhelmina Helena Murray on September 11th, 1880. My parents died when I was very young; soon I was under the care of my grandparents who continued to raise me in the principles of the Roman Catholic faith. At the age of fourteen I taught etiquette at the White Water Primary School in London. There I became close friends of the daughter of the local bank president named Lucy Westerna. When I was fifteen years of age I met a twenty three year old law student named Jonathon Harker. In the year 1897, months before we were to be married Jonathon departed for Transylvania, Romania to attend to needs of a nobleman who wished to acquire a new home in London. When Jonathon was away I experienced great tragedy when Lucy was attacked and weakened by a tall figure in black. When I approached Lucy I discovered that she was bleeding profusely from two wounds in her neck. She was rushed to the hospital where the doctors first diagnosed her with extreme lost of blood. After just one week the doctors sent her home after they could do no more for her. In the days that followed Lucy's physical appearance began to change dramatically. Her skin became deathly pale and the canines of her teeth grew longer and sharper. Dr. John Seward, one of the men whom Lucy loved, soon took notice and called upon an old friend and mentor named Professor Abraham Van Helsing. The Dutchman was very secretive withholding everything he knew about Lucy's condition. He administered numerous blood transfusions which helped revitalised Lucy for short periods of time. One night Lucy was killed in horrific fashion along with her ailing mother. My only friend was dead.

Weeks after Lucy's death reports surfaced of a beautiful woman in white preying on the blood of young children. The newspapers gave the perpetrator a name: The Bloofer Lady. One night as I walked through the streets of London I saw a young woman with blond hair, yellow, animal-like eyes and sharp canines. She was dressed in the white wedding gown Lucy was buried in weeks before. As I approached closer I was shocked to discover that lady was indeed Lucy! She revealed to me that she was "The Bloofer Lady" and that she was enjoying the new life she was living. Before vanishing in the crowd Lucy would speak of one man who would lead me and the human race to dominance and all there was for me to do was to submit to him.

I would be contacted by Jonathon's firm to meet Jonathon in Budapest. Jonathon took refuge at a coven where he was under the care of the nuns. He seemed traumatised from an experience he could not describe and he suffered a severe nervous breakdown. I would stay at the coven where I along with the nuns nursed him back to physical and mental health. One day I would stumble upon Jonathan's private journal where each page spoke of horrors at the castle of his host Count Dracula. In his journal Jonathon described one such incident where he was nearly killed bye three "demons" that had the appearance of beautiful women yet they bore fangs like animals. Dracula saved him just in time only to reveal himself as a monster bearing two sharp fangs. Jonathon managed to escape with his life where he was given refuge at the coven. After Jonathon regained his physical strength and his sanity he and I were married and I would become Mina Harker.

We arrived home where we were encountered once again by Professor Van Helsing who told Jonathon to stay and protect me at home while he and Dr. Seward visited Lucy's grave. They were to attend along with Lucy's fiancée Arthur Holmwood and American Quincy P. Morris who was one of Lucy's choices to be her groom along with Seward and Holmwood. Hours would pass until Van Helsing and the others returned to report that Lucy was once again dead. Van Helsing explained that she was killed when Holmwood drove a wooden stake through her heart. Van Helsing then explained that London was at great peril because Count Dracula had arrived in England to begin a reign of terror. Dracula was a vampire, a creature that fed upon the blood of humans. Anyone who was bitten by a vampire would soon be transformed into new vampires. Van Helsing explained that Lucy was one such vampire and that Dracula's work did not end with her. The nobleman intended to make London his vampire kingdom and he would soon remake the world where the vampires were the only race on earth. After Van Helsing explained the strengths and weaknesses of the vampire and the urgency to destroy Dracula I understood that Lucy's second death was justified and necessary.

We all took refuge at a mental institute owned by Dr. Seward where we continued our plans to destroy Dracula. Jonathon and I were given a room as it was no longer safe to stay in our home. One night I was suddenly awaken by the crashing of the window and the screams of Jonathon. I saw Jonathon lying unconscious in the corner of the room and a man suddenly approached me. The man was a towering figure dressed in dark with long white hair, crimson eyes and long fangs. He revealed himself to be Dracula and spoke of his alertness of the plan to destroy him. He told me that the time had come for me to walk on this earth for all eternity to do his bidding and with those words he drove his fangs into my neck. I felt all the blood in my veins leave my body and my strength slowly began to fade. He then released me from his fangs and with a sharp elongated nail on his index finger he made an incision into his chest. The wound on his chest bled profusely and soon he rammed my head into his chest forcing me to drink his blood. I was no match for Dracula inhuman strength; it was hard for me to break free from his clutches. As his cold blood filled my mouth I felt my veins being refilled and my body going limp with every drop. The last remaining drops of blood touched my tongue and in an instant Van Helsing and the others broke into the room. Dracula released me and escaped leaving me lying weak and motionless.

The next day Jonathon regained consciousness and Van Helsing revealed to me that I was transformed into a new being: the vampire. With that revelation my heart sank. I came to the conclusion that I was doomed to be what Lucy was in her second life. I wanted to die immediately. I did not want to come to terms with this rebirth but Jonathon had assured that despite this great curse that was upon me, he would love me forever. Days had passed and my physical appearance had begun taking a new shape. I began to experience unquenchable thirst and I heard sounds and saw sights at great distances as if they were near. One day I saw Dracula himself boarding yacht that was taking him back to Transylvania. He spoke on having his revenge on Jonathon and the others once he returned to his homeland. What made this vision so frightening was that the image was in my head, yet I saw it as if I was there presently. This was a new power I had: telepathy. Van Helsing took note and used my newfound power to trace the movements of the nobleman. Soon we were on our way to Transylvania.

When we arrived in the homeland of Dracula Jonathon and the others immediately started plans to destroy the count. Jonathon and the others managed to track him down en route through the Transylvanian forest. Van Helsing stayed with me and set up camp in a nearby area of the forest. At night fall Van Helsing kept watch while I slept when suddenly I was awaken by his shouts. At a quick glance three women snatched me away from Van Helsing and suddenly I found myself in a dungeon. I soon discovered that I was now in Dracula's castle and the women were actually Dracula's brides; the same terrible women Jonathon spoke of in his journal. Dracula intended to use me as bait for Jonathon and the others while at the same time he forced me to embrace the monster that was now within me. I had my first taste of human blood when Dracula offered me a drugged young man. His blood smelt so sweet and I was enduring unbearable thirst; I simply could not resist. Two days had passed until Jonathon, Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood and Morris made it to the castle. Jonathon located me in the dungeon but he easily fell in Dracula's trap. A battle ensued where Jonathon lost his right arm. The moment I saw Dracula draw Jonathon's blood I felt this unexplainable force overwhelm me. I broke out of my cell, grabbed Jonathon's bowie knife and rammed it into Dracula's heart. In an instant the monster began to wither away turning into burning ash. Dracula, who proudly proclaimed that no man can kill him, was dead. The moment Dracula died his castle started to crumble. My severely wounded husband tried to reason with me telling me to come with him, but I rejected. The castle began to come down upon the dungeon and Jonathon began to run away making a safe escape with the others. I was successful in making my own escape before Castle Dracula finally came down in a mountain of ruins.

Ten years later I would walk the streets alone. I learnt of Arthur Holmwood's wonderful life with his family in Scotland. I also learnt of Professor Van Helsing continuing teaching at his university in the land of his birth. I learnt of the death of the American Quincy Morris who died at the hand of Dracula's loyal followers. Lastly I learnt that Jonathon was remarried with two children: a girl and a boy he named Quincy after the American. Jonathon would become a lawyer who prosecuted those who offended the law drawing from his experience during the reign of Dracula ten years earlier. From that moment on I was alone, doomed to the life of a killer.

I lived on the streets feeding on the blood of the homeless and prostitutes. One cold night I came across a young man who wielded a wooden stake with intentions to kill me. I caught a scent of his blood and that scent was very familiar to me. He was a Van Helsing! Surely I was unaware of Van Helsing's relatives but I was also lost as to why this particular Van Helsing wanted me dead. I tried to avoid him but in one strike he drove the stake into my chest. This was a device sure to kill a vampire in seconds but to my surprise and his I did not begin to disintegrate nor felt pain. At this revelation this young man pressed on further. I did not wished to hurt him but he left me with no other choice. I pulled out the stake from my chest and stabbed him in his right eye. I soon vanished from his presence leaving him to scream in pain. In later years I would discover that he was Alexander Van Helsing, a son from which Abraham fathered from a first marriage. Alexander was the founder of a handful of vampire hunters known as The Van Helsing Clan. I had great admiration and respect for Abraham Van Helsing. I made a promise to myself that if I was to live this treacherous life I would never kill a Van Helsing.

In the second year in the 20th Century I joined my first group of vampires known as the Opened Pits. The leadership of The Opened Pits comprised of Philip Mason, Anthony Wright and Richard Blair. I spent months thinking I was finally among the people that I was destined to be with. It was until one night where the leading members of the Open Pits killed a pregnant woman I came to the conclusion that I was on the wrong side. Two weeks later we had planned to kill a member of the British Parliament. We followed his carriage until we surrounded it in quiet area in London. When we proceeded to attack the parliamentarian, we discovered his wife along with her two children were in the coach. Our target was not present that night. I prevented Wright's advance against the helpless humans and in turn gave them time to escape. The reasons for my actions stemmed from the experience of the death of the woman and her unborn child. At that moment Mason proceeded to have me asphyxiated for my lack of loyalty towards his group. I felt the adrenaline rush to my brain which gave me a message to fight back. I rammed my fangs into his throat and drank all that was left of his vampire blood, killing him in minutes. I would soon perform the same methods of death on Wright and Blair. Watching their lifeless bodies dried up like raisins I discovered yet another power. I could give eternal life, yet I could take it away just as easy. Immediately my memory reminded me of the days where I was in Dracula's captivity where I witnessed him punishing a disloyal vampire servant by drinking his blood. Dracula had made his mark upon me. This revelation threw me into a state of self-resentment that would last for centuries.

In 1910 I met Todo Hotsumi, a 300 year old Japanese vampire who approached me with promises to provide me with skills and lessons to live my life. I was taken to Japan where I became a member of his organisation known as Hollow Dragon where he had students from all over the world. I spent the next ten years being trained in five fields of martial arts eventually perfecting all, yet my specialties were in the art of Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu. Hotsumi became very impressed and presented me with a special gift. He forged a special katana sword and named it The Final Dawn. It was stronger than any other sword and was coated with a newly discovered substance called silver nitrate. At my request, despite numerous objections from Hotsumi, The Final Dawn was engraved with a Latin engraving of the 23rd Psalm: Yea, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death; I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me.

I spent twenty years under Hotsumi; but I soon discovered that I was walking the wrong path. I learnt that Hotsumi was one of Dracula's early apprentices and Hotsumi had founded the Hallow Dragon with visions of carrying on Dracula's legacy. After all, Dracula translated in English meant "son of the dragon". I then experienced sexual, emotional and psychological abuse from my teacher. I also endured persecution from fellow members of the Hollow Dragon who participated in several loyalty test given to me from Hotsumi. We attacked villages and killed villagers. I would often show my reluctance to carry out such missions but my other companions reminded me of their willingness to report me to be at the mercy of Hotsumi's wrath. I endured this tempest all during and towards the end of World War 2. By the end of this terrible war our new target was the American led occupation of Japan where I came across someone I never thought I would met again. It was one of Abraham Van Helsing's descendants who served among the Americans. Keeping my promise I spared his life, yet not without being exposed to the others.

It would not be long before many within Hallow Dragon would discover that the blood of Dracula ran through my veins. This revelation was made when we battled against a group of vampire hunters and one of the hunters drove a stake through my heart. All within my group were amazed and most sought to possess the same invulnerability through the blood of Dracula. At day some would attempt to slit my wrist all for the sake of having a taste of Dracula's blood. Their efforts however were fruitless. Hotsumi knew very well that my veins were flowing with the blood of Dracula. In the shadows he devised a plan where he would rob this blood and in turn be a replica of one whom he considered a brother. He sent me on assignment on the islands near Japan where I feel into a trap set up by him and a handful of students of Hollow Dragon. I freed myself from their clutches and killed all of them in intense battle. The sole survivor was Hotsumi himself. After engaging in fierce combat I spared his life, yet I slashed him across his torso leaving him scared for all eternity. From that moment on, I became a loner with The Final Dawn in my possession.

In the last remaining years of the 20th Century I roamed the earth travelling in several countries learning different languages. As the years multiplied I began to view the vampire race as the enemy, even though I was supposedly a part of it. With The Final Dawn in hand I began a personal crusade against those who made me what I am. I sought to end to what Dracula began for centuries. The first vampire I killed was the leader of a prominent vampire organisation. All the anger and fury I had sealed within myself seemed to have diminished with his death. Yet I could not contain the thirst for human blood. I was clearly not free from the bondage that Dracula placed upon me. While I was seeking to wipe out the vampire race I was also creating new members. This was a double edged sword that would pierce my heart the longer I had lived. I also came across several vampire hunters seeking to put me to death. I halted their advances by striking them with The Final Dawn. Though it was clearly self-defence, my heart was filled with such grief seeing human flesh decimated by such a strong sword as this. Flesh and blood is far more different than ash and dust.

I would continue to endure this long life trying to discover what meaning if there was any does a vampire that was seemingly invincible to all killing methods have? Along the way I tried to mend my relationship with God. This was evidence that my humanity is not entirely vanquished. I prayed to God for centuries hoping that he would either restore my humanity or put an end to what he would consider a child of Satan. I've befriended many priests who would become my religious advisors. Yet, like so many among the human race their time on earth was short lived. I, on the other hand, would continue to experience longevity and the more I lived on earth the more I resented myself. Throughout my long years I have experienced first hand how flawed the human race would become through war, famine and greed. As I much as I resented myself I resented the world even more. I have also seen how the word of God would be used for evil instead of good. Many cults were established and many were claiming to be God or the Son of God. Many were also killing in God's name through kidnapping and murder. My heart would be broken as I experienced many among the human race beginning to remove God from their hearts instead worshipping their own skills. I have experienced the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Many among the human race had begun making money and prestige as their gods. The leaders among the human race would be sending their young citizens to foreign lands to kill and be killed in foolish wars of ideology and reject the opposition of the very citizens of those who placed them in power. The leaders among the human race began diminishing the individual rights of simple humans in order to establish what they saw as rule of law and many governments of the earth began massing more and more technology meant for war.

Thus came the year 3450. I was now 1570 years of age. Despite this great age I was still in the body of a seventeen year old girl. Yet, mentally I have matured faster than I have ever imagined. I did not feel older and I was certain that my physical appearance have not changed. I still carried The Final Dawn on my back which had been with me for centuries. Rust does not destroy it and it is still as sharp and strong as it was first made. The world had changed drastically. All the nations of the earth were prosperous and the population was large. Yet by this time the vampire had won many hearts making the vampire race a significant member of the earth's growing population. The Android made the majority in the earth's population with the human race in second and the vampire race in third. The humans were unaware that their race was dying due to the seductive power and relentlessness of the vampire. I have been prowling this earth for centuries hoping to find answers to this meaningless long life. I would soon find myself back in a country I have visited several times over the years and I would settle in a new city still looking for the answers to my questions: New York City.


	2. Chapter 2

_**The following occurs in December 3450**_

**Chapter 1 **

New York City, 3450; the month is December and preparations are under way for the Christmas season. The air grows colder and the streets grow louder. Just five centuries before this great city was spared of the devastation of The Great Attrition and The Second Attrition. I have settled in this city after spending one hundred years in the land of my birth. I was mostly in the city of London where there has been drastic change. The people of Great Britain no longer sang "God Save the King" due to threats that have been perceived by the ungodly. Great Britain had became a strong atheist nation and all citizens deluded themselves in the notion that their own skills and talents would help them through their lives and that they did not have to place their faiths in a higher force that they thought did not exist. Through their pride and ignorance the human population was unaware that in the shadows the vampire gained a foothold in Great Britain. In fact, the entire Eastern Hemisphere had now removed God from their hearts and had become corrupt in their hearts and in their minds. Sexual immortality became the norm and secular governments became less and less democratic. These were the exact conditions that were welcoming to the vampire. After I have spent all those years fighting the vampire and feeding on the blood of the ungodly scum I had become fed up and left for The United States settling in the city of New York. The United States was the last stronghold of moral values, yet year by year pride and folly were manifesting within the American's heart.

This, however, was not the first time I have visited this city. When I was eleven years of age I visited the city by ship along with my grandparents in 1891. Upon arriving I saw her: The Statue of Liberty; a gift from France that would be a symbol of American pride for centuries. I revisited New York in 1976. It was at this time when I saw The World Trade Centre for the first time. Back then it was the tallest structure ever built by man. I was amazed how ordinary men could establish such great things as those two towers. Since then, from my perspective, American pride has turned into arrogance through the recklessness of her policies and behaviour. This city has been seen great horror with the terrorist attacks on Tuesday September 11th, 2001. I was in New Jersey at the time when two commercial aircrafts, one after the other, crashed into the towers of The World Trade Centre. Within several minutes they both came crashing down like card houses releasing huge clouds of debris that covered half of Manhattan. During the time of the attack on The World Trade Centre, in the United States capital, Washington D.C., another airliner crashed into the military complex of the Pentagon. Meanwhile another airliner, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At the end of this nightmare, 2,998 American lives were lost. The World Trade Centre was destroyed and the Pentagon was damaged. No one knew how it happened at first, but it was later revealed that 19 Islamic extremists of Arab descent hijacked four commercial aircrafts and used them as missiles against their targets. The fourth plane failed to reach its target when the passengers onboard overpowered the hijackers in an attempt to halt the advance.

The terrible thing about this attack is that it had occurred on the day when I welcomed my 121st year on earth, September 11th. I was filled with grief over the indiscriminate loss of life and that I was allowed to live to be a witness. In fact I recall being witness to another dreadful site in Nagasaki after the city suffered a massive nuclear attack. I was distraught that these young men would use their beliefs as a means of vengeance and murder. I would not see Ground Zero until three weeks after the attack. Smoke and fire was still present at the huge mountain of ruins. The site brought me to tears as I started to imagine what these innocent human lives went through as they struggled to escape the danger that pursued them. I imagined the horror they endured as the great structure began to fall upon them and the difficult decisions they made by leaping to their deaths. The American populace were given the remaining weeks of September to grieve their dead and the world grieved with them.

On October 7th, with vengeance manifested in her heart, the United States launched a military attack on a well known safe haven of the perpetrators, Afghanistan. Within a month the radical Islamic government of Afghanistan was toppled, yet the main targets of the military attack managed to escape. Many would be enraged if I had said this back then, but I was against the American response to the attacks on September 11th. To understand the reason one must ask this question: exactly how many wrongs make a right? The populace of Afghanistan was already impoverished and oppressed. Why make their lives more difficult than before? I came to the conclusion that if the United States continued on the path she took, she was at great risk losing the sympathy it had earned in immediate aftermath of that day in September. After Afghanistan, the United States would continue its crusade against perceived threats in the Middle East. The United States invaded and occupied the country of Iraq. Within the ensuing months and years American servicemen and women would battle an insurgency, corruption and growing unpopularity and hostility towards the United States the world over. The Iraq War lasted for twelve years and as a result 8,500 U.S. servicemen and women lost their lives in an unjust, immoral war. In the years following the attacks on September 11th the United States took drastic measures to ensure that such an attack would not occur again. They began screening all foreigners who visited their country, constructed a concrete barrier along the United States/Mexico Border; they performed surveillance on all Muslims inside and outside the United States and clamped down on all news agencies who questioned the works of the American government. Slowly the United States was turning into a fascist nation, the same fascism she had fought and defeated in the Second World War. A certain class of people soon emerged. They spoke of God's glory and salvation through Christ, yet they were hypocritical arrogant, self-righteous and determined to make their views a way of life. The United States government passed laws that diminished a handful of individual rights that the American citizen possessed in order to achieve victory in what was known as The War on Terror and penalised those who dared questioned them.

For sixty years American citizens were paralysed in the fear of the perceived threats their government spoke of until victory in The War on Terror was finally claimed in the year 2061. The Middle East soon became a secular democratic region, yet with the scarce practice of religion the Arab became morally corrupt. As the years wore on marriage in many nations would no longer be defined as a union between one man and one woman. Religious persecution was rampant and many nations engaged in horrendous acts never before seen since Sodom and Gomorra. Unfortunately, the United States was the leader in the slow decline of the morals that shaped the human race.

I prowled this world for centuries experiencing more armed conflict than I have ever imagined. During the First World War I saw firsthand how the human race squandered its technical knowledge by building machines meant to kill and destroy. During World War 2 Germany with its full embrace of fascism mercilessly attacked the land of my birth and invaded many other countries slaughtering many innocent lives all for the sake of establishing a supreme Aryan Race. I, however, would not return to England until thirteen years after the war had ended. In 1945 under the guidance of Todo Hotsumi and Hollow Dragon I experienced the total devastation of the nuclear bomb in the attack on Nagasaki. I along with a handful of companions was operating in a town that was nine miles east of Nagasaki when U.S. launched its first nuclear attack. As we passed through Nagasaki we were met by a city that became a barren wasteland. Every building was destroyed and there was almost no sight of human, animal or plant life. Also, a large mushroom shaped cloud still hovered in the sky. I have never dreamed that I would be caught in the midst of yet another nuclear attack. In the year when The Second Attrition began I was in Los Angeles one night when The People's Republic of China launched nuclear missiles from unmanned nuclear submarines in the Pacific Ocean. One by one the nuclear missiles dropped upon their targets. I was present when one single nuclear missile destroyed the City of Angels. The moment the bomb dropped a bright flash caused every man to freeze in his place. What followed was a deafening sound that was louder than thunder and a gigantic mushroom cloud grew over the city. The sounds of piercing screams filled my ears and within my presence a wave of hot debris rushed towards me. I felt all my clothes ripping off my body and my skin began peeling off minute by minute, suddenly I blacked out and all the noise became silence. After a while I regained consciousness and I discovered that I was naked and covered in ash. There was debris everywhere that reached my knees and the debris started falling out of the sky like snow. I wandered around and discovered the city of Los Angeles in ruins and what met my eyes was total death. I saw the skeletal remains of many of the city's citizens in almost every corner of what remained of The City of Angles. It was an attack that took everyone by surprise and this was obvious because I could not feel the presence of life in the ruins of Los Angeles. After a while I discovered that I had actually survived a nuclear attack! A mere vampire would not live to see the aftermath of such devastation but I knew that I was no mere vampire. The blood of Dracula had provided a shield for me against this attack and when I slipped into a state of unconsciousness I was unaware that my body had fully healed. Guilt overtook me when it became known that I was virtually the sole survivor of this devastation and in the coming days my self-resentment was ever stronger.

Thus came the last month in the year 3450. New York City had become more developed since the first time my eyes gazed upon its vastness. The Statue of Liberty still stands, so too does The Brooklyn Bridge, The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building and many other structures that were constructed within the 20th Century. By the 35th Century many new tall buildings were established, among them was The Spear of the Eagle that was constructed in the 34th Century and would be known as the tallest structure in the world. What replaced the destroyed towers of The World Trade Centre was The Freedom Tower. Both great structures were designed to withstand possible high winds and terrorist attacks. Time Square had became vaster in its size with more animated, digital advertisements placed on the sides of 400 buildings in the area. Despite its many wonders, unbeknownst to what was left of the moral man; the city was the centre of all humanity's wickedness and immorality. The youth of this century had engaged in sexual immorality, drug use and violent behaviour. Most of the youth's behaviour was being instigated by the electronic media. Divorce rates soared and broken homes were ever more present; not only in New York but all over The United States and the world. Sadly, this was supposed to be a time where many should celebrate the birth of Christ, but in this great city had not allowed the Christmas spirit to dwell within them. By this time Christmas was now being referred to as The Holidays. No crèche or angel could be found in New York or in any other city or state in America and at The Rockefeller Centre, due to The United States rejection of God's Word, the Christmas tree was now known as The Tree of the Holiday. Though these changes broke my heart, the traditional elements such as Santa Claus and the exchange of gifts were still present.

I prowled the streets at nights hoping not to embrace the temptation of human blood. At day I would cover myself in abandoned warehouses and apartment buildings. It was during daybreak I would lose my strengths and my powers. This was a time when I would indulge in self-mutilation cutting myself with my sword and watching my blood slowly flow out of my wounds. I would wait patiently for night to arrive where I would regain my strength and my powers and watch my blood re-enter my wounds and my wounds would close as if nothing had occurred. This was an act I would engage in whenever I dwelled within my thoughts of how ugly, unclean and worthless I felt due to my vampire nature. I hated this life and the blood that lived within me for more than a thousand years. I hated the killer that I was, I hated the killer that lived among the humans and I hated the killer who created me. I also thought of how disgraceful women of the time had become. Most of the women were involved in sexually degrading activities and buffoonery both on the pages of magazines and on the screens of many television sets. Young girls would emulate the behavior of these women becoming anorexic and bulimic. Many girls as young as fourteen were involved in sexual practises and displayed themselves in the most degrading forms of dress. I thought of how many children were getting themselves involved in almost all adult activities and how no boundaries were in place for them. I thought of the negative impact technology had in that present time. In the last years of the 19th Century, technology had fascinated me with such things as the telegraph, the phonograph and the typewriter. Through the centuries I have held technology responsible for the ills of the earth. From my perspective technology was responsible for the sloth of mankind, the rage that manifested in the human mind, the wars and the polluting of earth's atmosphere. To ease my mind of these thoughts I would travel to the top of The Spear of the Eagle where I would embrace the panoramic view of the New York City skyline. I would also descend upon The Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts where I would listen to the many classical notes and watch the opera performances. This great music was a sharp contrast to the hate, murder and the sexual immorality that was in the music of that era. This was also a century where all vehicles were flying in the sky putting an end to traffic congestion and its engine systems were environmentally friendly.

On December 5th the winds had grown colder and colder, soon on December 7th the heavens opened and snow began to descend upon the earth. The news reported of a snow storm that would last throughout the rest of the season, however, this night the snow had brought me comfort. It brought back memories of my childhood how I eagerly anticipated the snow and the joy of the Christmas season. Those days were now long gone. As I walked the pavements with the cars hovering overhead and the humans passing me by I began to think of the new age I had achieved. I began to think about the fact that for the past three weeks I did not have the taste of human blood. Three weeks was an achievement to me because so long have I tried to free myself from the urging of human blood. The moment I indulged in this thought the craving for blood suddenly took over. With all my strength I tried to fight the craving but it started to fight back. I began to walk faster but the craving seemed to build with every step I took. I walked past every human in my path; suddenly the human scent touched my nostrils. The more humans I came across the sweeter the scent became. I knew I needed to get away from them as quickly as possible. The quickest escape would be to jump up to the nearest building in a single bound, but I could not expose the humans to the freak that I was. I walked faster until I caught the scent of one particular human: a man, 24 years of age, a college graduate. I turned around and I saw the brown haired, green eyed young male with his left arm wrapped around a young blonde, blue eyed woman. I could see them talking and laughing and then they started to walk away. This young man was perfect for feeding but I could hear a voice in my telling me that if I took this man's life a great sin would be committed and I would be pushed further away from God. As the young man and woman departed I walked away and went into an alley. I looked around for watchful eyes and saw no one, then in a single bound I jumped onto the rooftop and found myself looking at the great towers of Manhattan.

I jumped from building to building feeling victorious over the fact that I did not give in to the blood craving. Suddenly I began hearing numerous voices in my head. The voices were clear as if the owners of these voices were near me. As the voices increased in their numbers I began to run away jumping from building to building. Hearing these voices was a power I had possessed for centuries. This was a power the vampire used in his hunt for the humans. I scaled these buildings trying to get further and further away from Manhattan when I suddenly heard a voice that was all too familiar. It was the voice of the young man whose sweet smelling blood ran through his veins. I tried so hard to fight the craving but I found myself hurrying back to Manhattan. As I jumped from building to building the voices began to disperse and I suddenly heard the lone voice of the young man in deep conversation with his female companion. His voice sounded very near and I started to smell his sweet blood. I stopped on one building when I started hearing the young man's voice as if he was presently talking into my ear. I looked down and I could see the man with his female companion walking on the sidewalk. The scent of this sweet blood was strong in my nostrils and I soon found myself in hot pursuit of him

As I pursued I received more clarity of the conversation between the young man and the young woman. I heard the great love they have had for each other, love that had rejected me for so long. Jealously began manifesting within me as I heard them explain their aspirations for having children and raising a family. I kept pursuing them until they arrived at an apartment building where they recalled the wonderful evening they have had. Through the irresistible blood craving I had planned to take the young man as soon as the young woman departed. I waited patiently for the young woman to enter her apartment when I saw the young man reach into his coat and pulled out a ring. He showed it to the woman and asked her to marry him. The woman burst into tears as she was overwhelmed with joy and she gladly accepted her lover's proposal. I was stunned at the whole scene. This young man seemed to be pure in his heart and his love for the girl was undeniable. They embraced each other and kissed goodbye. As the woman closed the door the craving for blood returned. I did not wished to end this young man's short human life and I wished not to destroy his aspirations for a happy marriage to his lover. But his sweet blood had me in its embrace and I was once again in hot pursuit.

I followed the young man blotting out the fact that he had aspired to be married and to raise a family. I had planned for a quick kill hoping that his fast death would be painless for him and for me. I followed him until he arrived at Central Park West, a place that was considered the safest in the world. I landed softly on the pitch path through Central Park and I had the young man dead in my sights. I walked far behind him to avoid suspicion and detection. As I walked behind the man I saw two male cyclists ride pass me. A few minutes later a female jogger ran pass the young man and then pass me. After five minutes I felt no presence of any other humans in Central Park. The memory of the young man's proposal soon returned which provided a temporary obstacle for me. As I walked closer behind the man his sweet blood smelt stronger than ever. Dashing whatever humanity I possessed I grabbed the young man from behind and brought him down to the ground. In a quick paste I bared my fangs and rammed them into his neck. The moment my fangs pierced his soft flesh, the taste of warm, sweet blood touched my tongue. The young man started to scream as I began to drink a great flow of blood that filled my mouth. He began to fight as he tried to push me off his body. I soon realised he would not submit to death as easily as I hoped. The more he fought the longer I sucked from his neck. With every drop of blood I felt his life leaving but I also felt his will to fight death. The young man gripped tightly on my clothes as I attempted to force the last remnants of his blood down my throat. Clearly his will to live was stronger than the last victims I had preyed on. After what had seemed to be like minutes I started to feel his grip slowly loosening and his life slowly slipping. Suddenly the image of him proposing to his lover appeared in my mind as I tasted the last drops of his blood. I started to feel what remained of his life as I saw him roll his eyes into his head finally succumbing to the fate he had tried so hard to fight. My mouth was still on his neck as I discovered that he was finally dead. Tears filled my eyes as I saw the image of his last embrace of his lover inside my head. I did not wish for this to happen, but the blood craving has strength no mere vampire could ever overcome. I slowly removed my fangs from his neck, but then I accidentally made a long incision across his neck. I released a soft gasp as I saw the opening I had made with my fangs. From the opening wound flowed no blood which was an indication that I had stolen the one thing that sustained him. I slowly laid his head on the ground, took of his coat and covered his face. I got up and took one last glance of his pale corpse. I felt defeated as I felt his warm blood flow through my cold shell. I turned around and slowly began to walk away. It is the blood craving that makes the vampire what he is and it is the vampire that transforms humans into efficient killers. My mind was soon filled with grief and hate. Grief that I had taken an innocent life and hate for the being that I was.

I prowled the streets of Manhattan until I came to the New York City Subway. I descended underground and found a great number of humans of different races and nationalities waiting for the next train. After about eight minutes, a long M.T.A hovered before us and I along with the others boarded mid-section of the train and hovered away. I sat between two individuals and immediately I thought of what had transpired earlier. That young man's dreams were destroyed, all thanks to one monster: me. The image of that man's bloodless corpse appeared clearly in my mind. The more I thought about it the more I hated myself. I then started to look around at the humans who surrounded me. There was a women middle aged and reading a magazine seated at my left. At my right was a young black male wearing a heavy brown coat. This young male, however is different. He was an android, a machine that possessed human organisms whose blood was not at all good for drinking. In front me at the left was a man in his fifties with grayish, black hair wearing a black trench coat over a dark grey business suit. He gave a friendly smile and nodded. I looked at the right and found a woman with two young children, a boy and a girl. The children were screaming happily as they were engaging in innocent play. Suddenly I caught the scent of blood at the far right. I looked to my right and discovered that the scent belonged to a young girl in her mid-teens. The long, black haired female appeared to be in no company and the scent of her blood was tempting. I could have easily surrendered to the lust for blood but I was reminded of my failed attempt to contain the thirst minutes earlier. I was also reminded of the many humans that surrounded me along with droid and I thought of the consequences of exposing my true nature. I laid back my head against the window of the train trying my very best to ignore the young girl's scent. However, with each passing minute my efforts not to give in was proving difficult.

Suddenly I raised my head and looked sharply to my left as I caught an all too familiar scent. The scent came from the back of the train and I felt the presence of three individuals. Soon their numbers increased to five and their movements began increasing in speed. I got up and reached behind my back placing my hand on the handle of the companion that had been with me for centuries. The door of the middle car burst open and out came four men and one young girl. Their forced entry startled many on the train, soon the engine sounds were drowned out with the screams of the humans. The humans ran to the other cars and soon the train stopped with everyone making their escape off the train. I was left alone with the five individuals who were members of the vampire race and they were armed with katanas. The first one drew his sword from his sheath and charged towards me. I drew The Final Dawn from my back sheath and soon engaged the Undead in combat. The first vampire clearly had skill with the sword, but I sensed his weakness and he was increasingly reckless. Each time he swiped his sword his blade touched mine. Our blades soon locked and with one kick I sent him staggering back. Two other vampires rushed towards me and swung their swords in my direction. One browned haired, bearded vampire placed his right palm behind the handle of his katana and attempted to stab me. I dodged the attack and kicked him in his ribs. The third, a vampire of Japanese decent, charged me with his swiping sword. I dodged every swipe and head-butted him. The fourth with short, jet black hair charged me, touching my sword with his swipes. I heard the vicious yell of a man running behind me. Immediately I spun around and impaled my sword into the body of the bearded vampire. I pulled out my sword out of this body and he started to scream. In an instant his skin disintegrated into burning ash and his bones disintegrated into hot dust. One vampire swordsman with a blonde pony tail charged me with his swiping sword. I dodged his swipes and his bladed clanked several times against my blade. I jumped on of the chairs and ran to the other side of the car and landed on the floor. The four individuals soon charged me with the screams of men engaged in medieval war. The last individual, a young female with long blonde hair, threw a flying kick at me. I threw up my forearms and allowed them to absorb the girl's kick. She then reached behind her back and pulled out two short katanas and charged me. She swiped her two swords and touched my blade with every strike, and then she made one attempt to stab me. I side-stepped her strike and the girl drove her swords into the wall of the car. The blonde swordsman rushed towards me, our swords clanked and he thrust his sword towards my face. I dodged his strike and his sword smashed the window of the car. The girl rushed towards, made a jump and came down her swords in spinning motion. Our swords clanked and the sound of one swordsman gave me warning as I sidestepped his flying sword. I ran to the middle of the car and soon I was in the middle of two charging swordsman. They pointed out their swords and rushed towards me. In the blink of an eye, I was impaled like a pin cushion with their swords. I looked down and saw their swords driven halfway through my body. I kicked the one at my left and at my right in their chests. The blows made them stagger backwards and their swords were removed from my body. The girl charged me and clanked her sword against mine. The blonde swordsman rushed behind me and swiped his sword several times with me dodging every strike. As he made one final attempt to strike with his sword, I drove the final dawn in his chest impaling him to the wall of the car. His body soon crumbled to a burning pile of ash and dust. The girl swiped her swords at me clanking mine. I dodged one fierce swipe from her and engaged with the last male individuals. I saw the Japanese swordsman rushed towards me and instant I swung my sword. The blade cut the pole in half and beheaded the Japanese swordsman. The last swordsman rushed towards me with the girl at his side. He began throwing kicks at me and the girl charged me with a combination of kicks and swipes. Dodged every strike they laid and with strike I spun around and slashed my sword across the male individual cutting him in half. Soon I was left with the girl who charged me with a combination of flying kicks, jumped kicks and swipes from her katanas. I blocked and dodged all and took off her left arm. She realised a piercing scream as her arm withered away. With her enraged charge came a combination of kicks and swipes with her right sword. I blocked each blow and drove my sword into her chest. She screamed as The Final Dawn made its way through her back. I looked into her eyes and saw how the fear of imminent death had taken over her. I spun my sword and off came the girl's head. Her head bounced to the corner of the car and disintegrated into ash and dust. The rest of her body dropped to its knees as it crumbled into burning ash and dust. I stood there for one long moment surveying the scene of burning ash thrown all over the section of the train. The image of the young man whom I killed earlier was blotted out with my sense of victory. I then sheathed my sword and calmly walked out of the train.

Judging from their black combat uniforms the five vampire swordsmen were members of a vampire organisation that had spanned for 500 years. It was named The Hand of the Dark and its leader was Nelson Pope. For centuries, Pope and his organisation had hunted me down like many other vampire organizations. The Hand of the Dark, as well as other organisations thought that by arming themselves with the sword their campaign against me would lead to swift victory. For centuries they have deluded themselves into thinking they can defeat the vessel of a young girl with veins flowing with the blood of Dracula. It seems that I have started a trend among the vampire race that began during the 20th Century. By the time of the 35th Century almost every vampire wielded a katana sword. What they do not know, however, is that strength does not come from the blade but from the one that wields it. When will they ever learn?


	3. Chapter 3

The following occurs in the year 3450

_**The following occurs in the year 3450**_

**Chapter 2**

December 8th, 3450, 7p.m. It has been exactly one day since I have failed to contain the blood lust and I sought for God's forgiveness immediately. I descended upon the St. Patrick's Cathedral to lay a confession of my sins. St. Patrick's Cathedral was one of the last foundations of religion to remain standing. The members of the Roman Catholic Church dwindled in its numbers during the centuries, so did the list of religious movements. During and after The Great Attrition and The Second Attrition many had blamed God for the massive destruction that was caused by years of nuclear war. Many among the human race came to the conclusion that despite all their prayers God no longer cared for them. Worse yet, they thought God had not existed at all. The human race spent years without paying homage to any force that existed in the universe. They felt lost and had no hope for the future. Thus, the vampire passed by and promised that disease, unhappiness and death would no longer place dominion over them. All the human had to do was to submit to the life of the vampire. Over the years non believers outgrew the believers making more servants for the vampire thus making the vampire race become vast.

Like a humble child I entered St. Patrick's Cathedral, crossed myself and made my way towards the confession booth. I looked around and saw the toll that the non-believer had taken upon this church. Only about seventy church members were present. Though many were proud of their faith, they had to practice in secret due to the fair of persecution from the non-believers. I can recall one such incident when a deacon and his family's home was fire bombed in the year 3445. It was widely believed that the motive was due to the deacon's faith. The real reason, however, was that the five perpetrators of the attack were under the orders of a well known vampire elder who promised them "the gift of eternal life." The attacks on the human non-believers were so rampant that no choir could be heard singing the hymns that represented the Christmas season. The emptiness of the church was a rather welcoming condition for me so that no one would know what I was and what I had done. I entered the booth closed the door and waited patiently for an old friend to arrive. Father Henry Jessup was the Catholic priest at the time and he had been with me for fifty years. By the year 3450 he was a strong 76 year old man of God. He was one of many priests I had befriended over the centuries, but I knew like many of those priests Father Jessup's time on earth would be short-lived. Through the silence of the booth I heard the door on the other side of the barrier slam shut. I heard someone take their seat and so began my confession. "Forgive me, Father," I said "For I have sinned."

"I could almost count the number of times you've said that, Mina," said the soft spoken voice of Father Jessup.

"Father, I'm sure you are aware of my present circumstance."

"I'm well aware of it, Mina. But I don't know what else to do for a vampire anymore."

"I'd really appreciate it if you did not refer to me that way, Father."

"Refer to you as what?"

"A vampire."

"Well that's what you are, Mina. There's no other definition. You can't escape what you are."

"I've never expected to hear that from a man like you, Father. You're beginning to remind me of those humans who persecute me for what I am."

"Mina, the first step in this life is accepting who you are. I agree that a great injustice was done to you more than a thousand years ago, but I'm very sorry. What's done is done."

I was brought almost to the brink of tears hearing those words coming out of a man who was supposed to be my comforter. I expected no less from one who, from my perspective, was the last man of God. "Mina," Father Jessup continued "I think that the Heavenly Father had given me a commandment to raise you as my daughter; to teach you the ways of righteousness. But every year it's proving to be harder than ever . I'm running out of options, Mina."

"What must I do then, Father?" I said. "What reward should I expect? I'm very certain that neither Heaven nor Hell would ever accept me. I'm not on the side of righteousness, yet I'm not on the side of evil."

"You are in a very complex situation, Mina. The strength of your human side is just as strong as your animal side. If you could just give in to your human side I'm sure you would achieve victory over the thirst for blood."

"I've tried so very hard, Father. This young man's blood was calling out to me. I simply could not resist. Why can't I just cease to exist?"

"Now, Mina. Don't think that way. Wishing to be dead is no solution to any problem. All I can say is keep praying to the Lord. I'm sure he will make a way for you. In the meantime I'll try my best to guide you." With those words Father Jessup ended our meeting with thirty Hail Marys.

After my confession I left the church and prowled the streets of Manhattan once again. The snow was still falling and I looked around and saw many humans trying to brace the cold. As I walked through those crowds I hoped not to give in to the blood lust, in fact I began praying for God to protect me from the blood lust. After about ten minutes I was hidden from the humans' view through the snow and soon I began jumping from building to building. It takes me just four minutes to reach a suburban area of Lower Manhattan. The area is so quiet, a feature that took me back my childhood in Manchester, England. Children were playing in the snow and families were still setting up their Christmas Trees. I did not want to leave this neighborhood. The similarities it bore to my childhood home were too strong. My attention soon focused on this one girl. The browned haired, blue eyed, eight year old girl reminded me of the innocence and carefree days when I was her age. I was at a far distance when I learned that she was building a snowman. She had already finished the entire body and the snowman's nose when she realized that she had no coal for the eyes and the mouth. She intended to run across the street to her neighbor's house to obtain whatever coal that was leftover by her friend. Suddenly my ear picked up the sound of a blue Ferrari hovering at 80 miles per hour heading straight for the girl's direction. In a half a second I rushed towards the girl and pulled her out of the way of the speeding Ferrari. The Ferrari sped past us kicking up trailing snow. "Hey," the girl said "you saved my life!" I turned away not wanting her to see the golden animalistic eyes I possessed. "Are you a policeman?" the girl asked walking towards me taking note of my heavy trench coat.

"I am no man," I replied not facing her.

"Hey, you're from England, right?" said the girl taking note of my accent. "My aunt Sue lives in England."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! Are you new around here?"

"No. In fact every time I come here can't wait to leave."

"You mean you don't live in New York?"

"No. I have no reason to."

"So…where do you live?"

"Wherever my heart tells me to."

"Well my name is Madeline Hudson. What's yours?"

"Wilhelmina Harker. You can call me Mina."

"Mina? Hey, I have friend with that same name."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She said her mom gave her that name."

"My mother gave me my time too."

"That's great!"

"Young lady, haven't your mother told you never to talk to strangers?"

"Yes. But you don't look like a stranger to me."

"I am someone you should never be around, child. In fact I suggest you should go inside and stay as far away from me as possible."

"Why?" Madeline walked in front of me trying to catch a glimpse of my face. I spun in the other direction as Madeline kept pursuing. "Because, child," I said. "I am an ugly creature that's capable of taking away your happiness."

"My mommy always told me that it doesn't matter what's on the outside, it's on the inside that counts," said Madeline.

"My dear young lady," I said "even on the inside I'm horrible."

"I don't think you are."

"You have no idea, child." Madeline turned around and headed towards her house. " I want Mommy and Daddy to meet you," said Madeline. "My mommy's baking cookies. Do you want some?" As she turned around I was already gone. In a single bound I jumped from Madeline's residence then jumped from house to house making my way back to the city.

It took five minutes for me to return to the heart of Manhattan. I began prowling aimlessly in the streets once again dwelling on thoughts that started to attack me. I thought of my encounter with Madeline Hudson. That girl reminded me of the young children I attended to during my days as assistant head mistress of White Water Primary School. The innocence of a child brings such joy to me, yet I was distressed over what was and was now no more. Such a carefree innocence would no longer make its manifestation for I had to be vigilant and wary of every environment I settled in. However, Madeline helped resurrect the child within me making me temporarily forget about the beast within. More importantly she was the only human outside the church who did not consider me a threat. I owed my life to this child. I wanted to be her guardian. I wanted to be there when her parents could not. I feared for her life because there were many like myself who would go so far to have a taste of her blood.

As I walked the sidewalks I was met by a scene that stopped me in my tracks. Ambulance and police vehicles were hovering near a restaurant with a significant amount of onlookers crowding the area. I needed to get accurate detail of the scene. Seeing that no one was paying any attention to me I turned to my right and jumped to a nearby building. Once there I focused sharply on what was taking place at the restaurant. The windows of the luxurious restaurant were smashed, tables and chairs were turned over, thrown across the restaurant or destroyed, blood was splattered across the walls and there was evidence that blades were used to destroy most of the restaurant. Bodies were being carried away into the ambulance with onlookers identifying and weeping over the loss of love ones. It seemed as if hundreds were dead as time passed when bodies were still being wheeled in. I soon left the area and jumped away with intentions of returning to the scene.

The following day I returned to the restaurant. By then the area was already empty and cleared of bodies. This restaurant housed 10,000 guests half of which included androids and children. I looked around and discovered a similar scene as the night before. Windows, tables and chairs were reduced to pieces and many areas bore gash marks. These gash marks were clearly made by blades longer than knives. There could only be one such blade capable of causing this much damage: the katana. I kept on moving where I discovered the hallmarks of a group that I was familiar with. This group had strong bases of operation in the area. It was a group that was established 1,200 years ago operated by leaders that had existed for 1,500 years. The main leader was a pureblood vampire who longed to keep the humans in order so that the vampire race could flourish. Hutton Antaeus founded and led The Eternal Rapier since 1888 and by the year 3450 he achieved the age 1,780 and his followers were 4,500. Anteaus was a name that was linked to a debt that was left unpaid for centuries. After leaving Hotsumi's Hollow Dragon I was hired as an assassin on behalf of many vampire organizations. Antaeus and The Eternal Rapier were among them. In the year 2013, due to sheer boredom I decided to offer my services to the one I saw as an enemy. Free of charge I performed tasks along with Antaeus and his henchmen. We got along very well until the year 2018 when I was very careless. Antaeus hired me so that he could make a careful analysis of my skills and abilities. If his timing was right he could grab hold of the blood of Dracula. He along with thirty members of his organization set a trap for me during the day where all vampires lost their strengths and powers. At a power plant in the city of Detroit I was overpowered by Antaeus's henchmen, bound and had my limbs sawed off. I was left to bleed nearly to death as my blood was collected by Antaeus's men. In my weak state I could not fight back as Antaeus's men then doused me in gasoline and set me on fire. I soon blacked out and by nightfall I regained consciousness. I had formed new limbs and my charred skin was now renewed flesh. Enraged by the attempt made on my life I descended upon one of the headquarters of The Eternal Rapier the following night. After braking through many defenses I was met by one of Antaeus's top lieutenants, Patton Stone who had The Final Dawn in his possession. After a fierce fight I placed a final end to Stone's existence and soon retrieved The Final Dawn. My attention soon focused on Antaeus and the rest of The Eternal Rapier, but I would soon discover that they made their escape to Europe where The Eternal Rapier became a worldwide organization in the shadows. The resurgence of The Eternal Rapier was an opportunity to ensure that Antaeus paid his debt, one way or another.

I spent two days training myself in a makeshift dojo I created at an abandoned factory that was one of my many temporary sanctuaries. December 11th, I ascended to the very top of The Empire State Building where I sat there like a fly on a wall waiting patiently for any sound that can give me and idea of Antaeus's whereabouts. Suddenly, in razor sharp clarity, I heard a business deal being discussed between members of The Eternal Rapier at 12th Street, Lower Manhattan. In a quarter of a second I jumped off The Empire State Building and in a single bound I leaped from building to building to reach my destination. Within 45 seconds I arrived just in time to catch a glimpse of two familiar faces who were associates of Antaeus and whom I have worked with in the past. I spotted them boarding a stretched limousine and hovering away. Immediately I started to follow them jumping from building to building and jumping on roofs of passing cars. I landed on top of a hovering bus where I had my eyes fixated on the license plate of the Lincoln Town Car. The limousine finally hovered to the ground where it parked in front of an office building where I spotted the two associated stepping out of the limousine and walking into the building. I jumped off the bus and landed on the ground. I unsheathed The Final Dawn and walked towards the building. I walked up the stairs finally making way through the door.

Upon entering a uniformed security guard approached me. He spotted the final dawn and drew his service pistol. "Hold it right there!" he said. Immediately I slashed him across his chest dismembering him. In an instant he disintegrated into ash and dust. I turned sharply to my right and saw another guard seated at his desk. He pressed the security alarm below his desk and in an instant I jumped on the desk and took off his head leaving his body to crumble into ash and dust. I walked in fast paste into the heart of the building where I was approached by ten men wielding katanas and immediately engaged them. The first one threw a flying kick into my direction. I sidestepped his attack and clanked my sword against his as we fought. I thrust my sword into his chest and pulled it out and immediately he disintegrated into ash and dust. Two other swordsmen rushed towards me and swiped their swords at me. I threw up my sword allowing the blade to absorb the strikes, and then one by one I plunged my blade into their bodies turning them into ash and dust. Four more of the men engaged with me throwing at me a combination of kicks and swipes with their swords. I dodged their kicks and absorbed their strikes with my blade. In a half a second I slashed them one by one with The Final Dawn and one after the other the swordsmen crumbled into ash and dust. One of the three remaining swordsmen rushed towards me and threw a swinging jump kick. I ducked his kick and absorbed his swiping sword with my blade. The last two swordsmen rushed towards me and threw a combination of kicks and swipes with their swords. I dodged their kicks and blocked their swipes with my sword. I then threw a kick into the chest of one of them and swung my foot into the face of the other. The first of the final three rushed towards releasing a scream as he aimed his sword for my head. I swung my sword into his direction and sliced in half between his torso and his legs. His burning remains soon flew across the main hall and in an instant the final two rushed towards me. One tried to strike at me from the front while the other attempted to deliver a strike from the back. Clanked my sword against the blade from the front and spun around absorbing the strikes from the back. With one strike I took off the head of the swordsman from the front and then spun around and plunged The Final Dawn into the chest of the swordsman in the back of me. In unison they both crumbled into ash and dust. After the fight I turned my attention to one of the elevators that lead to the top the office which housed Antaeus and many of his trusted associates.

I stood there in the middle of the elevator watching as I passed floor and floor. I reached to floor 112 and then there was a small soft DING. The elevator doors slid open and revealed a long hallway. Standing in the hall were approximately fifty men in wielding katanas. At the end of the hall was a door. I stood there for what seemed like five minutes examining their swords and sensing the determination and willingness they had to put me to death. I looked at their eyes which seemed to burn like fire as they tightened their grip on their weapons. In the corner of my eye I saw one swordsman rushed towards me aiming his sword for my head. In a quarter of a second I slashed my sword across his chest. Soon he began to disintegrate into ash and dust. Another swordsman at my left rushed towards me holding his sword above his head. I quickly spun to my left and drove my sword into his chest making him crumble into burning remains. As I made way further towards the end of the hall many swordsman rushed towards me throwing a combination of kicks and swipes with their swords. I dodged and blocked many of their combinations and slashed them with my sword. With every stab and every swipe they fell into burning remains. Each time a swordsman would attempt to make a strike The Final Dawn would stop them before they made their strike. The more I vanquished my enemies the further I reached my target. There were two swordsman were halted my advance with a combination of swinging and flying kicks. I dodged them and absorbed their swipes with my sword. I spun around with my sword and sliced them in half leaving their bodies to drop into piles of ash and dust. I finally reached my destination with a long trail of burning remains behind me. I reached for the keypad with my right hand to press the entering code. The moment my finger touched the first button the blade of a katana came down and chopped my arm off. I turned to my right and found myself in a fight with the last swordsman. We blocked each other's swipes with our swords and dodged each other's unarmed strikes. I blocked many of the swordsman's strikes all with one arm. Soon I thrust my sword into his chest, spun around and sliced him in half making him crumble into burning remains. After this final encounter I raised my right arm and started staring at it. As I stared new bones started forming and new flesh started fusing together. Soon skin began to form over the new bones and flesh in my arm. I now had a new arm. I then turned my attention to the keypad to proceed with the entering code. I entered the code number and the door slid open.

I entered the office that faced the New York skyline and was met by a desk and behind the desk was a high chair. "I'm surprised that you still remember the code," said a familiar voice behind the chair.

"A wise leader like you should know never to use the same code, let alone, give it to someone that may soon turn on him," I said.

"So true," the male voice said. The chair soon turned around revealing a tall, well built blond man dressed in black whom I known too well as Hutton Antaeus. "I anticipated the day when we would meet again," said Antaeus. "There was clearly no reason for me to change it."

"Why try to kill me when you know very well that I can't be killed?" I said.

"Why kill you? You have something that I wanted. I knew very well that even in your comatose state that you would be healed in the first hour of dusk."

"I suppose I should anticipate fighting one that has all of my powers."

"Your powers? That's the last thing I had in mind those 1,000 odd years ago. What you and the human race don't know is that I was the first one to develop the android. It took me exactly 500 years for me to build a machine who's only purpose was to do my bidding. This android wasn't meant to be a shit load of metal, wires and human organs. As you may know the average lifespan of an android is approximately 150 years being capable of producing more generations like it. My android is capable of spanning for generations and generations like the vampire thanks to the blood of Dracula. I know very well that by each passing day the blood of Dracula within you can regenerate without even the single drop of human blood. You are truly indestructible, Lady Mina."

"May I suggest that we spend less time talking and more time focusing on your debt?"

"My debt? Oh Mina, that's something that can wait for another day. Right now I would like you to be a witness to the new race of androids." My ear suddenly picked up the sound of a sliding door at my right. I turned sharply to my right and found two columns of young men walking out through the door. They wore black combat uniforms and black combat boots and in their right hands were katanas. They walked into the office in single file and soon I was able to determine that their numbers were exactly twenty. They then began surrounding me and once I was surrounded they made their stance ready for battle. "These young men are what the vampire hunters have fought against for two centuries," Antaeus said. "They have been created to outlast any human or droid and they possess the strength that is double compared to the mere vampire. Only your precious blood has made it possible for me to create an android capable of possessing the skills of the ultimate swordsman and surpassing the durability of a mere droid."

I stood in the midst of the android swordsmen examining their stances and the expressions on their faces. On their faces they bore no expression. With their swords fixated on me it was very obvious that they were programmed for one reason only: to eliminate me. "I can't tell you how long I've waited for this day, Mina," said Antaeus as he began walking away. "You disgust me," I said. "You're a swordsman with no honour. You depend on the works of others in order to make your achievements and you have to be a dumb fuck to think that I'm gonna allow it to end like this!" With those words I jumped from the midst of the androids in a single bound, raised my sword above my head and brought it down aiming for Antaeus. In the blink of an eye one android rushed in front of Antaeus and blocked my sword with his protecting Antaeus from my strike. Our swords locked as I tried to break through the android's defence. "Do you really think killing me will put an end to it all?" Antaeus said turning to me. "There is one who is resting in the shadows preparing to settle a debt himself. A debt only you have to pay. So before this night's over I'd like you to take into consideration that this guy I'm talking told me that he would not rest until his debtor ceases to exist completely. To help this person achieve this goal is, as far as I'm concerned, the most honourable thing I could've done."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said.

"You'll find out just in time," Antaeus said. Antaeus made his way to the sliding doors at the right. He smiled as the doors closed leaving me trapped in the office. I rushed towards the sliding doors when suddenly four androids landed in front of me blocking my path. This was the moment where I would engage in yet another epic struggle.


	4. Chapter 4

The following occurs in the year 3450

_**The following occurs in the year 3450**_

**Chapter 3**

I stood in the midst of the large office surrounded by twenty androids that bore the appearance of young human men. In their hands they wielded the katana and within them I sensed their sole purpose: to eliminate me. One of the droids at the door rushed up to me and began throwing strikes at me with its sword. I threw up my sword and blocked all his strikes, and then with one kick I sent him flying across the room. In mid-air the android flipped and landed on his feet. Suddenly another android rushed towards me throwing strikes with his sword at high speed. With a speed that matched his speed I blocked all of his strikes. My ear then picked up the sound of footsteps running behind me. I spun around just in time to block the fast strikes of five androids. As I blocked their strikes I began moving backwards towards the desk. I flipped over the desk and one of the droids sliced the desk in half with one strike. I soon engaged with six other androids who threw a combination of kicks and strikes with their swords. I dodged, blocked and absorbed their strikes and in a single bound I jumped from their midst and landed other the other side of the office. This one android did the same landing on the same spot where I landed and started throwing a combination of kicks and strikes with its sword. I sidestepped his strikes and used my sword to absorb them and then I blocked and absorbed many of its kicks. I then struck with The Final Dawn and threw a combination of kicks and punches. The android blocked my strikes with its katana and was unaffected by my blows. I continued to strike at the droid with my sword and then with one strike I took off its right arm. Its arm fell on the floor with its hand gripped tightly on the handle of the sword. Despite this the android began throwing kicks at me at high speed. Each strike blurred as I tried to block and absorb every blow. The android threw one kick to my ribs. As its foot made contact to my body I held unto it and threw the android to the other end of the room.

The moment I got that android out of the way I made contact with ten androids. One by one they struck at me with their swords and threw kicks at me at high speed. I sidestepped, dodged and blocked many of their strikes. I flipped out of their midst and landed behind them. There was one android that stood behind me and with one thrust the droid stabbed me in the back. The blade of the katana entered my back and then through my chest. I froze the moment the entire blade came through the middle of my chest. I looked down at the blade and with lighting speed I landed a spinning kick in the droid's chest which sent it flying towards the end of the office. I turned around and broke off the blade of the katana that stuck through my chest and then I pulled out the handle of the katana and watched as the droid flew across the office. The droid flipped in mid-air, landed on the wall with its feet, sprung off and flew towards me. The droid landed on top of me and at that moment I used my feet to throw him off me and send him flying on the other side of the office. The droid landed on its feet, rushed towards me and began throwing a fast combination of kicks and punches at me. I blocked, dodged, side stepped and absorbed many of the droids strikes and soon I began throwing fast kicks at the droid. It absorbed many of my blows and soon I landed one kick that sent the droid flying across the office.

I soon found myself engaging with approximately thirteen droids who struck at me with their swords at high speed. I blocked many of their strikes with my sword and fought my way through them. One droid took it upon itself to finish me once and for all with a combination of kicks and strikes with its sword. I blocked many of his strikes and his kicks and then threw my own combination of strikes and kicks. It blocked many of my sword strikes but absorbed many of my kicks. My kicks would have no effect on this droid. The droid struck at me with its sword once more and threw a jump kick in my chin. I blocked its strikes and took the kick to my chin. I started to strike at the droid with my sword throwing strikes at high speed. It blocked many of my strikes with a speed that matched mine. With one thrust I stabbed the droid in the chest with my sword. I drove my sword through its chest until the entire blade stuck out of its back. I then pulled it out hoping that the droid would drop to its knees. To my astonishment the droid still remained standing and soon it began to strike at me again at high speed. I blocked many of its strikes and threw a combination of kicks and strikes with my sword. The droid blocked my strikes and absorbed and blocked my kicks. I threw a punch which made its way into the droid's chest. I opened my fist and realized that my hand was deep inside the droid's chest. My fingers touched something soft and fleshy. I grabbed it with a firm grip and the droid froze immediately. I looked at the droid's face and realised that the once firm face was now the face of a helpless creature. I pulled the object out of the droid's chest and discovered that it was a heart. The heart was very much like a human heart but there was a striking difference. The heart was connected to wires that hung out of the droid's chest. I stared at the heart and saw that it was now connected to three wires with three other wires that were loose or broken. My arm was now covered with blood and I watched as the heart beat slowly in my hand. I then looked at the droid who was now on its knees. It dropped its sword out of its hand and blood began pouring out of its mouth. The droid stretched out its hands as if it was pleading for me to spare him. My grip on the heart became tighter and with one pull I yanked the heart from the remaining wires. The droid then collapsed and laid in a pool of blood. I soon realized the droid's weakness.

I then engaged with the other droids throwing a combination of kicks and strikes with my sword. They dodged and blocked many of my strikes with a speed that I had to conquer. I engaged with this one droid throwing strikes with my sword at high speed. He blocked my strikes and threw his fast strikes at me which I blocked. I raised my sword to strike a blow and at the same time the droid raised its sword against me. With one blow our swords were locked with both of us pressing our blades against each other's blade. I pushed hard against the droid's blade that sent it sliding across the room. Another droid jumped in front of me and struck with his sword at high speed. I blocked all of the droid's strikes with my sword and started slashing the droid across its face. Two slashes from The Final Dawn left the droid with deeps gashes on the right side of its face. The droid then halted its advance, dug deep into the gashes with its fingers. He pulled off the skin revealing its steel skull and red glowing right eye. It engaged with me once more throwing a flying kick which I blocked with my left arm. The droid then struck at me with its sword at high speed and threw fast kicks to my face and abdomen. I then threw strikes at the droid and with one kick I sent him flying across the office and breaking through the door where Anteaus made his escape.

I dashed out of the door, and then the droid sprung back to its feet and engaged with me again. We struck at each other with our swords at high speed and with one strike I stabbed the droid into the chest sticking it to the wall. With effortless strength I turned my sword around its chest in mixing motion cutting the wires that connected to its heart. The android then dropped limp on the floor in a pool of its own blood. The other androids that were in the office soon dashed out and started to engage with me in the hall. One by one they struck with their swords at high speed and threw fast kicks at me. I dodged and blocked many of their strikes. The more they struck the further I moved backwards. I kept moving backwards until I came to a staircase was in the heart of the massive building. I jumped on the railing and jumped onto one of the flight of stairs that made up 112 storeys. I began to make my escape until one of the androids landed right in front of me and started striking at me with its sword. With each strike I move backwards going up the stairs. I glanced to my left and saw the other droids jumping from the top of the staircase and onto where I landed. About ten of them made it to my location and joined in with the android I was fighting with. One by one they struck at me with lightening speed and with my own speed I blocked many of their strikes. This one particular droid threw a combination of kicks and strikes with itsword. I blocked of the droid's combos and slashed it across the chest which dismembered him. I engaged with two other droids striking at them with The Final Dawn in hand. In one stroke I dismembered them cutting them in half from across the chest. I then made contact with three other droids in which we struck at each other back and forth with our swords. In slicing mode I had them dismembered and their body parts flew across the floor. Two of the remaining droids charged me throwing a combination of kicks and sword strikes. I blocked their strikes and dismembered them from across the chest. I soon engaged with the remaining droids where we struck at each other back and forth with a combination of sword strikes and kicks. At high speed I dismembered them limb from limb. Blood splattered across my face as my sword made contact with their flesh. After my engagement with the ten droids I jumped on the railing and jumped to the next row of stairs.

I landed on floor 111 and in an instant eight more droids landed in front of me. I soon came across the android with the missing arm. At high speed the android threw fast kicks at me. I blocked and dodged many of its kicks and soon I found myself engaging with another android. The android threw strikes at in me in which I blocked them with my sword. I then engaged with the last five droids who struck with their swords one by one. After blocking all of their strikes I engaged with the one-armed droid yet again. I began blocking and dodging every kick he threw at me in what seemed like ten minutes. Soon, with one swipe of The Final Dawn I dismembered the droid from across its shoulders. One of the remaining droids rushed up to me and threw fast strikes at me with its katana. I blocked many of the strikes and took off its right arm that wielded the katana. Its arm dropped and its fist unclenched making the katana roll out of its hand and unto the floor. The droid looked down at the katana. With its right foot the android kicked up the sword and caught it in its left hand. It then struck at me once more with the same speed and skill it had with its right hand. I blocked and dodged many of its strikes and soon I engaged with another droid who threw the same quick strikes. After blocking its strikes I made upward swipe dismember the droid from the right side of its chest. I then engaged with the unarmed droid whose sword I broke in half. It rushed towards me and started throwing a fast combination of kicks and punches. I defended myself by blocking and dodging most of its kicks and punches and I also absorbed a handful of its blows. I soon began to strike at the droid with my sword. However, each time I struck with my sword the android would duck, flip and jump out of the way before my blade made contact with its body. The droid struck at me again with its combination of kicks and punches. After blocking and absorbing its kicks and punches I struck once more with my sword dismembering the droid limb from limb. I then jumped unto the railing and then jumped down to floor 110.

The moment I landed on that floor I spun around and caught a glimpse of one of the droids climbing unto the rail and jumping off. I soon climbed on my rail and jumped towards the droid who too jumped off. We soon engaged in mid air striking at each other back and forth. We kept striking at each as we were falling down to the first floor. I dismembered the droid across its chest and engaged with another droid who jumped off. After trading swipes with the droid I sliced my sword across its chest. Two other droids jumped down towards me and started trading strikes with me. I used my sword to dismember their bodies into fine pieces and found myself engaging with two other droids. We traded strikes at high speed and in the blink of an eye I dismembered them. I spun around and had myself in free-fall face down. I landed on my feet in crouching position and soon the blood and body parts of the androids began raining down on me splattering all across the reception area. I slowly raised myself covered in the horrible tasting blood of the androids. I surveyed the area which was now covered with the limbs and torsos of the androids who displayed surprisingly great skill and swordsmanship. However, I failed in my main goal of eliminating Anteaus. There was one thing that penetrated my mind: Anteaus' revelation of a figure who wished to settle a score with me that supposedly lasted over several millenniums. I could not, however, allow that to overshadow my small victory. I sheathed my sword and slowly walked out of the now quiet headquarters of The Eternal Rapier.


	5. Chapter 5

_**The following occurs in the year 3450**_

**Chapter 4**

December 12th 3450. It is daytime, a time when the vampire loses all power and the thirst for blood ceases to exist. It was at this time I prowled the streets of Manhattan where the snow is pouring lightly. I have descended upon the headquarters of The Eternal Rapier the night before to settle a debt with its leader Hutton Antaeus only to discover that someone had a debt to settle with me. According to Antaeus this figure would go to great lengths in order for me to pay this debt once and for all. Soon thoughts began to attack me. Who was this person? What is this debt that I must pay? Does this person really think that he has a chance against me?

I walked the sidewalks passing alley after alley. Street after street. Corner after corner. I walked until I came to this elementary school. I was about five feet away from the fences when a bell rang. School was over. The front doors of the school swung open and children began rushing out towards the front gate. There were children who stayed to play until their parents arrived. The parents of some arrived and embraced their children. There were many others who rushed towards school buses and some who talked and laughed while they walked their way home. Such a sight brought joy to me. I was immediately taken back to days when I was assistant head mistress at Whitewater Primary School. Those days were long gone but thank God, they seemed to have returned. I started to walk away until I heard a soft, high voice behind me say, "Mina!" I stopped dead in my tracks. That voice was too familiar to ignore. I turned around slowly and there I found her: Madeline Hudson. She was dressed in heavy winter clothing with a bright, smiling face. "Don't you remember me, Mina?" said Madeline. "It's me, Madeline!"

"Of course I remember you," I said. "How did you recognize me?"

"Well it looks like you wear the same coat all the time," said Madeline. "I told everybody about you."

"You what?"

"I told all my friends and all my teachers about what you did the other night. I told them that you jumped in front of a car and pulled me out of the way fast like a rabbit. I wanted everybody to meet you."

"And what have they said?"

"They didn't believe me."

"You should have never told anyone about me, Madeline."

"Why not, Mina? I can't forget about the nice you did. I almost died."

"Child, I am someone who prefers not to be known by these people. I must always be in the shadows and not have my identity exposed."

"What do you mean?"

"I have done unspeakable wrongs in the past. I have killed and I have helped others kill. I have not stopped killing and I won't stop killing and I tell you now that you are in great danger now that you have met me."

"You're a bad guy?"

"Yes. I have been killing for many years and I must you just recently I have killed an innocent man at Central Park West."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have no reason to lie to you, Madeline. I'm telling you all this for your own good.

Do you understand?" Madeline's once bright face had become humble and the smile had transformed into a disappointed frown. "Madeline, listen," I said as I kneeled down and placed my hands on her shoulder. "I cannot stop being what I am. It is in my nature."

"Will you ever stop?" said Madeline.

"No," I said after a slight pause. "Now you must promise me that you must not let anyone else know about me and never tell anyone that we met. Do you understand?" Madeline, still frowning, nodded her head. "Good. Now go. I'm sure your parents are waiting for you," I said. Madeline turned around and slowly she began walking away. She suddenly stopped and turned to me. "Mina," she said "even though you're a bad guy, I'll never forget the good thing you did for me. Bye Mina." With those words Madeline turned around and walked away never looking over her shoulder.

I stood there watching until I spotted a car hovering overhead and landing next to Madeline. As Madeline stepped in the door closed behind her automatically and hovered away. I stood in that spot thinking about what I have done. It was a very hard decision, but I had to tell her about my true nature. I could not lie to her, yet I could not bear the fact that she could have died at my hands if I had not contained the bloodlust. Madeline was something I wished I had in my former life. She was a sister I wished I had and the daughter I should have had after I had married Jonathon. Aches grew in my heart as I pondered on these thoughts. I then turned around and walked away.

It was about 4:35 in the afternoon when I took refuge in an abandoned apartment building. I broke down an old wooden door that led to an empty hallway. I walked the old, rickety stairs until I reached the nineth floor. I walked down the old hallway until I arrived at a door that was slightly opened. I pushed the door open and walked into an abandoned apartment. The floors were dusty and bore holes; the windows were broken and were boarded with wooden boards and the paint was peeling off the termite infested walls. I sat down and the floor and stared at the shit hole I arrived in. I then began to think about what had transpired moments before. I had just rejected the one potential friend I had outside the Catholic Church. When I had first met Madeline she neither screamed nor detested my appearance. She accepted me as a friend not as a foul beast. Loneliness began taking its toll as the silence of the abandoned apartment complex seemed to have grown louder each passing minute. I removed my trench coat and laid back against the planks on the floor. I found myself gazing at the cobwebs and holes in the ceiling. For some reason this sight was a reflection of how I viewed myself: an unclean, hollow, frigid temple that was slowly withering away with time. I rolled up the sleeve on my right arm and stared at my chalky, pale skin. I then took The Final Dawn, held the blade short and drove it deep within my arm. The moment the blade entered my flesh, I began to bleed profusely. I then began passing the blade up my arm and blood began flowing uncontrollably. I kept cutting until I reached the base of my shoulder. Afterwards I laid my head against the floor and looked at my right. My arm was still bleeding profusely. As I watched my arm my vision began to blur. After what seemed like ten minutes I suddenly blacked out.

I came to and realized that was it was dark. I sat up and discovered that it was now early dusk. I then looked at my arm. The long wound was now healed and my blood had retuned in my veins. I took The Final Dawn and pressed on the sword as I began to slowly get up from the floor. I put on my trench coat and walked towards the window and looked down. I climbed on the window pane and jumped off. I fell nine stories down and landed flat on my feet. I straightened myself up and looked for potential onlookers. I took comfort in the fact that no one noticed what happened moments ago. I then turned to my left and walked away. As I walked the sidewalks I thought of Madeline once more. This little girl seemed to be the only one that could fill the void in my life. She was my god. I did not want her to be raised in the folly of the human race. Yet, I did not want her to live this dark, unclean life that I lived. I pondered on these thoughts until I head a faint meow at my right. The sound stopped me dead in my tracks and the moment I stopped the meows grew numerous and louder. I turned to my right, looked down and saw a small kitten hiding between the trashcans. I have always had a great fondness of cats ever since I was a child. As I lived this life I have realized that the cat and I have striking similarities. We both are quiet and humble, we both have a fondness of heights and when cornered we strike at blinding speed. I stretched forth both my arms reaching for the kitten. The frightened animal made two steps backwards as I approached it closer. I held the brown and white bicolor kitten under its two front legs and examined it carefully. It was a male no more than three months old. It was heartbreaking that someone would abandon such a small creature that had barely seen a year. Once the kitten was in my hands I sensed that the kitten felt safe in my care. I held the kitten close to my body hoping that it would feel the warmth it deserved but I was reminded that my undead body was colder than the wretched weather. I looked around for any signs of prying human eyes. There was no one. I then looked up to the top of one the apartment buildings and in a single bound I jumped to the roof. Once I reached the roof I started jumping from rooftop to rooftop taking myself further and further towards lower Manhattan.

It takes just five minutes for me to arrive at my location: an abandoned steel mill which was another place where I had refuge. The main complex of the steel mill was where I would further my swordsmanship and where I had little to no rest. The silence of this place was deafening. I spent night after night being crushed by the weight of loneliness. However, this night was different. A cat was in my company. Thank God for His Creations. I was not adequately equipped to care for this young animal. All I had was a small piece of a loaf of bread. I sat in a corner with the kitten at my left and gave it the bread that could not sustain my life. In about ten minutes the kitten was finished with the loaf. I soon began to worry for that loaf was all that I had to feed it. I watched the kitten as it began to walk away aimlessly. I crawled after it in an attempt to save it from certain danger it may face walking all by itself. The kitten then stopped and began nibbling on something it had found in a corner. As I approached closer I discovered that it was a dead mouse. I was immediately reminded of the circumstances surrounding that dead mouse. I was at the steel mill earlier that day and out of sheer boredom I began target practicing on mice with a few darts I had in my possession. This particular mouse was unfortunate. The kitten tried with great effort to pull the limp mouse from the dart the mouse was impaled with. In razor sharp clarity I could hear the flesh of the mouse tearing away from the dart. The kitten was finally successful in separating the mouse from the dart and began chewing on the mouse's tough skin. I watched carefully and I sensed that the kitten felt whole as it sustaining itself on the life of another creature. When I found him the loneliness and helplessness struck me with great force. Once the kitten found the mouse all those insecurities I had sensed in him were gone immediately. Suddenly I thought of Madeline Hudson. I felt that she and I were destined to live through the centuries. Madeline could never be safe in the care of her parents. In fact, she could never be safe in this world. I wanted to be Madeline's ultimate protector. Her life was too precious for me to ignore. The very thought that Madeline could be dead the next day horrified me. I thought that only in my care she would be safe. I continued to stare at the kitten devouring the mouse. I then thought about the similarities between me and this animal. Our days begin with loneliness and insecurities but when we find the one thing that could sustain us we are helpless no more. Slowly the bloodlust was coming back. No! I will not allow it. I soon returned to my thoughts about Madeline. I carelessly thought that the only way I can assure Madeline was safe was for me to be her master. How could I accomplish that? Her blood. Give Madeline the dark gift. I suddenly came back to my senses. No! Not Madeline! She is far too young and her human life is far too precious to throw away. I will not create a child vampire. However, I began to think that in order to ensure that no other vampire would touch her I must reach to her first. No! No child Madeline's age must endure centuries of meaningless living. But I would teach her to live that life. No! I cannot take a vampire trapped inside a child's body under my wing. The more I dwelled on these thoughts the stronger the bloodlust became. When I had noticed this I tried to fight it as hard as I could. I soon began taking small steps towards the exit. It was as if I had no control over my legs. The bloodlust suddenly took over at full strength and in a quarter of a second I dashed out of the abandoned saw mill leaving the kitten behind. I reached outside and in single bound I began jumping away from the steel mill all the way towards Manhattan.

In approximately five seconds I made it all the way towards the suburban area where Madeline lived, suddenly there came a voice inside my head that was different from all the other voices I have heard. "No! Stop! Don't do this! STOP!!" It was my conscience. It screamed for me to stop my advance towards Madeline's house. But then I caught the scent of Madeline ten feet away from her house. My voice screamed even louder begging me to stop, but I would no listen. Lord, please forgive me. I approached closer, but then I spotted police cars hovering over Madeline's house. I then hid myself in a tree and tried to listen to whatever voice I could hear inside the house. Why are the police here? What happened? In razor sharp clarity I heard the cries of a woman as she explained to the police of the events that had transpired that day. "It was about 9 o'clock when I told Madeline to get ready for school in the morning," said the woman. "I had her brush her teeth and take a bath before she went to bed. She would call me to read her a bedtime story from inside her bedroom. Tonight she was very quiet; I thought she was asleep already. When I went to check on her she was not in her bed. She was gone! Me and my husband searched all over the house for her and we even called our neighbors but nobody saw her."

"How long was your daughter missing?" said a male voice.

"An hour ago," said another male.

"Were the bedroom windows locked?" said a third male.

"Yes, officer," said the woman.

"Were the doors locked?" said the first male.

"Yes."

"Was any window of your house opened?" said another officer.

"I think the living room window was opened," said the male.

"So you last had contact with your daughter about approximately ten minutes before you noticed that she was missing. Is that correct, ma'am?"

"Yes, officer."

"Did you get the impression that someone broke into her bedroom, ma'am?"

"Not to my knowledge, officer. I could remember, though, that her window was closed."

"Did you notice anyone breaking into your house?"

"No, officer."

"Sir, ma'am, all I could say is that your daughter's been kidnapped." With those words I heard the uncontrollable sobs of the mother. "Don't worry, ma'am. We're doing everything we can to find your daughter. We have the best team that could crack this case," said the officer.

After hearing what had transpired, I was in a state of shock. In an instant the bloodlust was gone. Madeline was kidnapped? Who could have done such a thing? On this night my exact fears had come to past. Madeline was not safe in the care of her parents. I immediately blamed myself for Madeline's disappearance. I wanted to be her protector but I failed her when she needed me. I began to hate myself for turning her away when she offered me her friendship. I did not have faith in the police to find Madeline. I owed my life to this child. It was my duty to find her.


	6. Chapter 6

**The following occurs in December 3450**

**Chapter 5**

December 13th, 3450. The day before my world was destroyed when I found out that Madeline Hudson was kidnapped. How could anyone grab a child from her home and vanish without a trace? My theory was that there had to be someone that had the Hudson family under close surveillance in order to know exactly what time to grab Madeline and what area of the house would be available to make an escape. That night on December 13th I discovered that there was absolutely no finger prints of the kidnapper found in Madeline's room or anywhere in the house. This revelation led me to believe that the assailant used gloves in order to ensure that no prints would be discovered by the police. However I did not have a name of a person who would grab a child in the dead of the night. Could it be a close relative of the Hudson's? This was a possibility as the assailant apparently knew the exact location of Madeline's bedroom. That night I returned to the Hudson residence and discovered that the police was now being assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.). I used my heightened sense of hearing and discovered that the police and the FB.I. had no leads in the case and no suspects. Madeline's parents were clearly distraught and many federal agents tried their best to reassure them. Suddenly there was ringing on the highly advanced headsets that replaced telephone receivers at the time. Mr. Hudson would be the first one to answer it. My sense of hearing would soon pick up the conversation.

"Hello?" said Mr. Hudson.

"Is this the Hudson's residence?" said the voice of what appeared to the distorted sound of a male.

"Yes," replied Mr. Hudson.

"I'm calling to let you know that I have your daughter."

"What?! Where is she?"

"Now before we get hasty its best that I let you know something very important. The moment you answered your headset I've set a deadline for you and your wife."

"What deadline?"

"A seventy-two hour deadline. In seventy-two hours I want exactly 100,000 delivered to me. I'll be calling again in two hours to give you specific instructions in how to deliver the money, but I would like to make something perfectly clear. Any refusal or inability to deliver the money will result in you taking responsibility in the unfortunate death in your daughter."

"Listen, please. I….I don't know if I could give you that kind of money."

"100,000 in seventy-two hours is to be delivered, Mr. Hudson. No exceptions." With those words, the phone hung up and I sensed the shortness of breath in both Mr. Hudson and his wife. A ransom? This world is rotting so quickly! A man would climb mountains and walk the deepest valley to take what doesn't belong to him for simple sum struck the heart of me. Anger manifested within me and anger soon turned into rage. During this time New York City and all the cities across The United States were considered the safest with criminal acts virtually ceasing to exist. Madeline's kidnapping would be the first in nearly a century. So scarce were kidnapping cases that the authorities were inadequately equipped to deal with such cases. Immediately I was reminded of one particular kidnapping in the last years of the 20th Century. Heather Hume, five years of age and a native of Glasgow, Scotland was kidnapped, rapped and drained of her blood. It seemed as if history was repeating itself. I could not allow that to happen again. Not only was Madeline's life in the hands of her parents, the police and the F.B.I., but her life was also in my hands.

I crept towards the Hudson house and in a single bound I jumped in the air and landed on the roof. I sat there crossed legged and waited patiently for the two hours to past for Madeline's kidnappers to call once again. Two hours had finally past the sound of the Hudsons' headset ringed. From there I heard the kidnapper's instructions. "You are to go to your local bank online and make a withdrawal of 100,000. I'll then contact you by e-mail where you are to send the money into my private online account. I'll be calling again within these seventy-two hours to give you directions on where to pick up your daughter."

"How can you assure me that you won't hurt my daughter?" said Mr. Hudson. Suddenly through his headset I heard the screams from a girl I knew all too well. "Daddy! Daddy!" It was Madeline. Her screams reflected the sheer terror and helplessness she was in. I just wanted to reach out to her and grab her from the clutches that held her but she was out of my touch. "I guarantee that no harm will come to your daughter, Mr. Hudson," said the distorted voice of the male caller. "But if you make any contact with the authorities you'll never see your daughter again. Just so to let you know, I'm watching your every move. You have seventy-two hours to do exactly what I say, starting now." With those words the caller hung up and the loud sobs of Mrs. Hudson became present. I sensed the willingness of Mr. Hudson in delivering the money. I thought it was very foolish of him to make such a decision. I wanted to know did this kidnapper know how to contact the Hudsons. Where was he calling? If the Hudsons delivered the ransom that would have meant that the kidnapper would win. I needed to do whatever I could to locate the kidnapper immediately.

The following night I prowled the streets trying to pinpoint a possible suspect. To do that I needed to first examine what I knew thus far. At around 8:30p.m on December 12th when Mrs. Hudson put Madeline in bed. Mrs. Hudson left her daughter for ten minutes and when she returned Madeline was gone. No mere human can grab a child who weighs approximately 60 pounds and move at the speed of light. I needed to return to the scene of the crime to perform my own investigation. I arrived at the Hudson household in five minutes from lower Manhattan. I expected Madeline's parents, the police and federal agents to still be present. To my surprise, they were gone. Suddenly my ear picked up the sounds of mechanic humming five feet away from me. In a single bound I jumped towards the rooftop, landed on the surface and spotted what my inhuman sense of hearing picked up. It was a surveillance droid that the authorities used to guard crime scenes or places where the highest levels of government held their operations. Though small it carried deadly weapons that were designed to eliminate any intruder it spotted. Such a machine would stand no chance against me, but I would waste no time against small pathetic waste of steel and wires. Further more, I could not risk being spotted for my presence would give the impression that I was somehow involved in the kidnapping of Madeline. I crept around the back slowly and approached the automatic door. Using a small, portable computer, I hacked into the security systems, deactivated the alarm, obtained the security number and unlocked the door. I slipped through the door and found myself in the kitchen. I walked slowly through the house and with a heightened sense of smell I sniffed all around trying to pick up whatever scent that the kidnapper may have left. I could not walk all the way throughout the Hudson household. All law enforcement agencies were equipped with devices that could pick up the D.N.A. that was left from the heels of a stranger that broke into the houses of his victims. I looked towards the ceiling and in a single bound I jumped towards the ceiling, outstretched my hands and stuck on the ceiling. From there I began crawling on the ceiling in order for my D.N.A. not to be picked up from my footsteps on the floor.

I kept crawled through every doorway upside-down until I made my way to a small bedroom that was at the eastside of the Hudson household. There was absolutely no doubt that it was indeed Madeline's bedroom for her scent was very strong. I crawled towards the walls and knelt sideways to pick up any different scent that could be present. I kept sniffing until I picked up the scent of one figure: one male, around his mid-thirties, possibly standing over six feet tall. I stayed in my kneeling position for about ten minutes until I picked up not one, not two, but three more figures that were present that night. Two were male and surprisingly one was female. I found it shocking that four persons would enter such a small house without alerting the Hudsons and then vanishing without a trace. It could not be possible for any human to accomplish. As I thought it about such a scenario I sensed the presence of the droid inside of the kitchen moving at fast towards the bedroom. The moment it entered the room I jumped towards the ceiling and landed softly on the surface and watched as the droid hovered around scanning the entire room. The only place the droid did not scan was the ceiling. It hovered away and after about ten seconds I began crawling away from Madeline's bedroom.

As I crawled back towards the kitchen the droid suddenly sprung up in front of me. Though it was directly in front of me its red iris was turned away. Slowly it began turning its iris in my direction and at the same time I began shifting aside out of its presence. Its iris was now in the direction were I had been and I was now directly behind its iris. It hovered there for about fifteen seconds and soon began hovering its way towards the living room. As it hovered away I began crawling back towards the back door where I made my entrance. I landed softly on the floor, opened the door, slipped through the doorway and found myself back outside. After using my hacking equipment to lock back the door I crept towards the front of the house and in a split second I spotted another droid hovering into my direction. In a single bound I jumped towards a nearby tree. Unfortunately, the moment I landed on one of the tree branches the entire tree shook. The droid was then alerted and its iris was focused upon the tree where I landed. I then heard a mechanical hum that started faintly and began to grow each passing second. In a split second the droid fired a red laser at my tree. I jumped out of the tree just in time before the top of the tree exploded into leaves and branches. I landed on the roof of the house at the right of the Hudsons' residence and continued jumping for miles until I arrived back into Manhattan.

All through the night I prowled the rooftops of Manhattan's massive buildings. During this time I tried to analyze the whole situation. I had to come up with a conclusion quickly for Madeline's time was running out. I had a clear idea who the culprits of this kidnapping were: three men and one woman. How could four people break into a small house without alerting the occupants inside? There is only one way this is possible: vampires had to be responsible. The vampire possesses speed up to 400 miles per hour and he can run so quietly that its victim would not be aware until it was too late. Whenever the vampire moved his body would not cut through the wind virtually making him invisible whenever he moved at high speed. The vampire's undead body also made this possible for he was as light as a feather. It was a possibility that the assailants were also equipped with the same hacking equipment to break through the alarm systems. After my analysis there was absolutely no doubt in my mind that those in the midst of the vampire race were responsible for Madeline's kidnapping. What baffled my mind was the vampire's request for a ransom in return for Madeline's safe return to her parents. Though many among the vampire race sought dominion over the races of this earth, few sought financial power. Surely kidnapping for ransom was rare among the vampire race. I needed to gather whatever information among these bastards, for Madeline's sake.

I jumped from rooftop to rooftop and scaled from building to building in search of my first suspect. This suspect was the leader of a vampire group known as The Winds of Eternity. It was made of 300 mostly young female vampires that operated in small cells all across New York. Its leader was Alexia Dakin a 1,700 year old pureblood. Growing in her teens she became obsessed with staying young. At age fourteen she underwent a risky surgery that halted her from growing into an adult thus enabling her to continue her days on earth in the body of teenage girl. As the years passed Dakin traveled the world seeking companions who were willing to live for eternity at the primes of their youth. She found their companions in five girls. The first was Vanya Bermel, 860 years old who became a vampire at age thirteen. The second was Devan Hallet, 756 years old who became a vampire at age fifteen. The third was Fran Ingles, 645 years old who became a vampire at age fourteen. The fourth was Karris Meier of Germany, age 815 who became a vampire at age twelve. The fifth and last was a former native of Haiti and Dakin's second in command, Erzulie Roux. She was the daughter of a French slave master and a female African slave. During the days of slavery in Haiti she became a vampire at age sixteen. She would eventually meet Dakin in the last years of the 19th Century and the two would be the founding members of the Winds of Eternity. They often guised themselves by pretending to be school students attending several schools across the United States and I would be aware of them whenever they stopped at a coven that was owed by one of Dakin's closest allies. The coven was named The Sons of 1785 in reference to the year 1785 where the vampire rose to prominence all across Europe and parts of the United States due to a collective effort by many vampire clans to increase their numbers by attacking dozens of unsuspecting towns and villages in a campaign known as Pestilence. Many humans had fallen victim to the vampire's clutches and those who survived had assumed that it was a devastating plague that struck their loved ones. The membership of the coven was over 50,000 that had spread across the United States and the Eastern Hemisphere and its leader was Victor Svarog who was a key asset to the Pestilence campaign.

I tracked Dakin and her group down to the very coven where Dakin and Svarog discussed their plans. I was pitched on top a building that was across the street from the building that served as one of the coven's base of operations. It had seemed that my timing was perfect for I spotted Dakin, Bermel, Hallet, Meier and Roux leaving the building and walking down the street. I jumped from building to building until I caught up with them near an alley. I waited until they walked between the two apartment complexes. After they made their way in the alley I jumped from the roof of the building and landed right behind them. "Isn't tonight a school night?" I said.

"Why don't you just eat my pussy, bitch?" said Hallet.

"Yeah. Fuck off," said Bermel.

"Did you come to fuck with us again?" said Meier. "You think just because you have that sword and you're the big time "Bride of Dracula" that we're supposed to piss our pants?"

I rushed towards Meier and brought the blade of The Final Dawn close to her neck. Immediately I sensed the fear taking over her. "No. But you should at least be humble and hear what I have to say first," I said.

"Alright, then," said Dakin. "How could we be of service to the great "Bride of Dracula"?"

"Last night there was a kidnapping," I said. "An eight year old girl was grabbed from her home by four individuals and they are now demanding a 100,000 ransom."

"C'mon, Mina," said Bermel. "You know goddamn well how we roll. Unlike you we don't give a flying fuck about what the humans get themselves into."

"I'm fully aware of it," I said. "I know it's a waste telling you that this girl has only seventy-two hours to live. But not only is she at risk but you also have placed yourselves in a terrible predicament as a result."

"Mina, are you telling me that you think that we have something to do with that?" said Roux.

"Unless you are willing to tell me who else is responsible," I said.

"Mina, honey, we wouldn't waste our time with a little bitch like her. We only reach to those in our age groups," said Dakin.

"Don't you mean kidnap and murder?" I said.

"Whatever. Besides an eight year old girl wouldn't be a good asset."

"I know that covering for someone, Dakin. Spit it out!"

"Me? Covering for some prick? I don't see the benefits."

"I'm not stupid, Dakin. You have associations with five covens in this city. You know all of the operations that they run. You yourself got involved in their operations and you know the names of their leaderships."

"True, but it doesn't mean that I'll waste my time grabbing some kid for 100 grand."

"Maybe, but I'm sure you know who's that desperate."

"If you're thinking about Vic then you should get your head out of your ass," said Hallet. "Kidnapping for ransom is not on his resume. Who knows? It was probably the humans. You know how they'd anything to make a fucking buck. Fuck 'em."

"For your information I was at the crime scene and I've calculated that this girl was grabbed at the speed of 2.5 seconds by four individuals," I said. "No human could move that fast and you know it."

"Hey, the humans are always throwing away money on these shitty scientific programs to make their race faster and stronger," said Bermel. "You can't expect us to be the only ones capable."

"There was no presence of human D.N.A. in that house other than the girl's parents," I said. "Do you have any other explanation?"

"Do you really wanna know who I think could be responsible?" said Dakin? "Think way back in the year 1990, Glasgow, Scotland. I'm not sure if you were aware of it but the people responsible for kidnapping, raping and eventually murdering a five year old girl were members of the group called The Realm of Sheol. They're always in the business of kidnapping to make new recruits. I heard that they've just set up shop in New York. Their leaders name is Jacob Vidor and he's mostly in the clubs and at that penthouse complex in Manhattan, but I'm sure you'll find him in that big house at Long Island on 76th Avenue, King Street. Knowing you, I'm sure you wouldn't mind taking off a few heads." With those words Dakin and her associates jumped away from my presence and though they were very fast I spotted them jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

After so many years where the kidnapping of Heather Hume haunted me I've finally uncovered the identity of those responsible with help from an unlikely source. Dakin and her crew were clear but I would always keep them in my sights from that moment on. I had to make haste to Long Island for Madeline only had 48 hours left.


	7. Chapter 7

_**The following occurs in December 3450.**_

**Chapter 6 **

December 13th, 3450, 12:15a.m. Using my heightened agility I made my way to Long Island, New York. Acting on a tip off from Alexia Dakin, I descended upon 76th Avenue, King Street where I was supposed to locate the residence of the murderer of Heather Hume, a native of Scotland. It was never my intention to take the word of a bitch like Dakin, but there was nothing else that convinced me that Jacob Vidor wasn't responsible for the death of Hume and I was strongly convinced that he was responsible for the kidnapping of Madeline Hudson. I jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the prestigious residential area of Long Island until I finally arrived at 76th Avenue, King Street. I descended upon a large manor house that covered three blocks. It was of no surprise to me that many among the vampire race indulged themselves in such luxury. I approached the 10 foot wall of the manor and in a single bound I jumped over the wall and landed on the other side. I got up from the ground and calmly walked towards the door. I approached the two doors and kicked them open. The force of my kick made the doors swing open and immediately an alarm began blaring. At the sound of the alarm I removed The Final Dawn from its sheath and continued forward.

The manor was indeed an awesome sight. It had clearly lived through the centuries yet the entire structure remained as it probably was when it was first erected. I walked towards a hall that was to my left. Through the loud blaring of the alarm I heard heavy footsteps. The footsteps started slowly and seemed to have taken up paste every passing second. The further I walked down the hall the louder the footsteps became. As I approached the end of the hall what caught my eye stunned me. About five robots with the appearance of spiders appeared from the left and began walking in my direction. Like spiders they walked on eight mechanical legs and possessed about six irises. I froze in my tracks and positioned myself for an inevitable fight. Soon in the blink of an eye, one of the robotic spiders shot four rounds of lasers in my direction. I flipped out of the way as the lasers exploded into the wall at my right. I landed on the wall at my left and soon all of the mechanical spiders fired rapid shots at me. I jumped out of the way as the rounds slammed into the wall destroying the wall on impact. I rushed towards one of the robots and struck with my sword in swiping motion. The robot disintegrated into several pieces of steel and wires and suddenly it exploded. The moment I vanquished that robot I was struck by five rounds of laser shots. I fell flat on my back and I felt the gaping holes in my body. In five seconds the wounds began to close and my flesh became new again. I sprung to my feet and swiped my sword at two of the robots with one hand making the robots disintegrate and explode. The two remaining robots began firing rapid shots into my direction. I flipped over them and landed behind them. Their irises then turned into my direction and continued to fire laser shots at me. I threw up The Final Dawn in an attempt to absorb the laser shots with the blade. Around 50 shots were fired at me and with the strength of The Final Dawn many of the shots ricocheted of the blade. I began moving forward towards the robots absorbing all the laser shots with The Final Dawn. I was about ten feet away from them when I rushed towards them and with fast swipes I destroyed them leaving them to explode.

I continued deeper inside the manor house with The Final Dawn held upwards. My ears suddenly caught the sound of multiple heavy footsteps coming into my direction. I moved forward into the direction of the sound that came from the left of another hallway. When I entered the next hallway I was met by approximately twenty machines. These machines had red irises, bore the shape of humans and their silver endoskeletons bore the resemblance of human skeletons. On the left of their shoulders were canons and in their hands were weapons used by ancient martial arts warriors in China and Japan. About five of them spotted me; soon they formed a single column and almost simultaneously they fired rounds from their shoulder canons. I dodged just in time as about twenty rounds slammed into the wall and made a huge explosion upon contact. I rolled across the floor in the other hallway and as I got up I was engaged in combat with one robot wielding a Dadao. Its skill and reflexes with the Chinese weapon were the almost as similar to that of a human fighter. I absorbed the strikes with The Final Dawn and struck back at the man-like machine. We struck back and forth with our weapons until I landed one strike across the machine's chest dismembering its torso from its lower body. I then engaged with two other machines that jumped in front of me and struck at me almost simultaneously. One was armed with a Chinese Dao; the other was armed with a Japanese Naginata. They both struck at me with their weapons at a speed that matched mine. I blocked their strikes and struck back with the Final Dawn. They both blocked my strikes and one that wielded the Naginata flipped upwards and landed behind me. I spun around just in time to block his strikes and we both struck back and forth at each other with our weapons. With two fast strikes I beheaded the robot and dismembered it from its torso. I then spun around and engaged the last robot and at the speed of light I dismembered the robot into a dozen pieces.

After my engagement with the two robots about ten of the robots ran into the hallway where I was located and began firing their shoulder canons at me. I ran away as about fifty laser rounds leveled the hallway down. I could hear the robots running behind me as I made my way to a grand staircase. I stopped at the staircase and turned around only to be met by about eighteen robots. I held up my weapon, made my stance and stared at the robots as they made their stances. We all stood there staring at each other for what seemed like hours waiting for one fighter to make his move. I focused on the robot at my right who wielded a Japanese Nagamaki. I anticipated that he would make the first move. I then heard the firing of a shoulder canon that was headed into my direction. Immediately I jumped out of the way as the round slammed into the massive flight of stairs. I landed behind the crowd of robots and engaged a robot wielding two Chinese butterfly swords. We struck back and forth with our weapons until I landed five strikes that dismembered the robot into five pieces. I soon engaged with two robots each wielding Chinese Taijijian swords. For forty-five seconds we struck at each other back and forth with our weapons and then I engaged five other robots. One wielded a Japanese Jumonji Yari spear, the second wielded a Japanese Nodachi, the third wielded a Japanese Uchigatana, the fourth wielded a Chinese Jian sword and the fifth wielded a Chinese Goujian. One by one they struck at me with their weapons at high speed. I dodged their strikes and absorbed many other strikes with The Final Dawn. I engaged with those robots until I dismembered them one after the other. I soon engaged with two robots each wielding two Japanese Wakizashi swords. We struck back and forth with our weapons and in an instant I dismembered them both. I then engaged three robots wielding katanas. With struck back and forth with our swords until one by one I dismembered them. After my engagement with the katana wielding robots about three robots wielding Japanese ninjato swords rushed towards me. I engaged them dodging their fast strikes and absorbing the strikes with my sword. I then turned towards the now destroyed staircase and jumped towards the top left. To my surprise the three robots followed suit jumping towards the same area where I had landed. Once again we engaged in fierce combat. Each time we struck our swords sparks flew from the blades. One of the robots kept striking at me which made me move backwards into yet another hallway. After absorbing the strikes with my sword I slashed the robot two times across its chest leaving it to disintegrate into two halves. The moment the robot collapsed the second robot fired a rocket from its shoulder canon. In a split second I dodged the rocket and the round slammed into the wall down the hallway exploding on impact. The robot soon began striking at me with its katana. As we struck back and forth with our weapons I caught a glimpse of the last robot being joined by about twelve more robotic fighters landing at the top of the area where we were. Apparently reinforcements had arrived to join the fight. After a moment of fast thinking I chopped off the arm of the robot that I engaged with, spun it around and rammed my hand into the back of its shoulder where its shoulder canon was located. I pulled out the wires that were connected to the canon which caused a malfunction and the robot's shoulder canon began firing wildly around the hallway. I wrapped my right arm around the torso of the robot, held firmly on the shoulder canon and aimed at the advancing machines. One round landed into the crowd of robots destroying five. The last seven jumped out of the way and one landed behind me. I spun around along with the robot and fired the shoulder canon at the robot behind us causing the robots to explode into numerous pieces. I spotted two that were climbing on the ceiling and aimed the canon towards them. Two rounds destroyed them both and suddenly there was a robot at the left of the ceiling. The robot then lounged at us and I turned the shoulder canon making the round destroy the robot in mid-air. Three more robots then began running towards us. Focusing the shoulder canon on them they were destroyed with each round hitting them. I then ripped the canon off the shoulder of the robot that was in my clutches. Finally I jumped on the robot's shoulders and wrung its neck off causing sparks to fly. The moment I pulled its head off its shoulder the rest of the body dropped to its knees and fell on the floor face down. I dropped the robot's head on the floor and in thick smoke a katana wielding robot suddenly ran out of the smoke and rushed towards me. We soon engaged in fierce combat were the robot struck at me using several aerial strikes. I did the same with hyper speed yet they were dodged and blocked by the robot. After we struck back and forth with our swords I slashed the robot in its torso upwards and sideways living it to fall into pieces on the floor.

I continued into the hallway and found an elevator at the end of the hallway. I approached the elevator pressed the numbers to open the elevator. I entered the elevator and pressed the numbers to take me to the floor of my choice. I chose to go to the last floor. I had the impression the entrance to the manor was the last floor. I was surprised to find out that the manor had a secret floor. It takes me about twenty seconds to reach the last floor. The doors opened and revealed what appeared to be a huge bunker complex. It was not uncommon among the wealthy to use their wealth to build bunker complexes for safety during The Great Attrition and The Second Attrition. With The Final Dawn in hand I walked cautiously through the great maze that made up the bunker complex. I had my sense of hearing, smell and sight on high alert for anything I was to come across as I walked through hallway after hallway. After approximately ten minutes I arrived at what appeared to be a dead end. It was very dark and the area appeared to void. I used my ability to see in darkness to examine the area thoroughly. I then came to the conclusion that I was standing before a cave. I used my sight to examine further. My eyes were able to spot the outline of a figure that stood approximately 7ft 5 inches tall and about 8feet wide. Suddenly two giant flashing red eyes appeared in front of me. I heard mechanical humming and rumbling and I could see the figure standing up in front of me. The figure was now 9feet 4inches tall looking right down at me. At that moment it was very clear to me that the figure was in fact a giant robot. It had a wide massive chest, a long neck, a human-like head and short legs. It brought its arms in front of its chest as if readying itself for a fight. It had massive steel shoulders but surprisingly its hands were giant saws. Its legs were quite small with about two steel toes on each foot. I looked up to its massive face and saw the robot opening what appeared to be its jaw. In its jaw was what appeared to be a canon. Suddenly a laser beam fired from the canon. In an instant I jumped out of the way as the round exploded into the ground. I rolled across the floor, got up and readied myself for yet another fight. The giant robot started slowly walking towards me and at the same time it started swinging its saw-like hands towards. I kept backing away as the spinning saws swayed over my head slicing away concrete at my left and at my right. I also dodged and sidestepped the saws. The robot suddenly brought both of its hands upwards and brought the spinning saws downwards towards me. I jumped out of the way just in time as the saws made a giant hole on the spot where I stood. The robot then crouched down, opened its mouth and fired one shot from its laser canon. I rolled out of the way and the round exploded into the wall that stood behind me creating a huge cloud of dust and debris. I looked up and saw an opening between its legs. I jumped through its legs, rolled across the floor and began running to the other end of the hallway. The robot turned around and continued coming after me. I began running at hyper speed, yet, to my astonishment the robot was gaining on me despite its massive size. I looked to my right at the wall and decided evade him by scaling the walls. In a single bound I sprang towards the wall and started running sideways on the wall. As I ran across the walls I heard this huge crash. I looked over my shoulder and found the giant robot scaling the wall in hot pursuit of me. It dug its claw-like toes into the wall and its saw-like hands to scale the wall. I continued to run at high speed yet the giant robot always seemed to be on my ass. I then decided to jump towards the ground and engage the colossal machine head on. I jumped towards the ground, got up and stood in fighting position. The massive robot looked down at me and jumped from the wall and onto the ground making the whole bunker complex shake. It raised itself upwards and continued to stare at me. We both stood in our stances staring at each other in what seemed like minutes. In the blink of an eye I jumped in a single bound from the ground towards the robot's face. At breakneck sped I slashed the robot on the right side of its face. I landed behind the robot and as the robot spun around I ran towards the robot and jumped upwards with my sword making a significant gash in the middle of its massive chest. The robot opened its mouth once again and began firing rapid laser shots and me. I jumped out of the way of most of the shots and dodged many more by rolling across the floor. I began running across the walls in an effort to dodge more rapid shots. I could hear many of the laser shots exploding on impact right behind me as I ran. I suddenly stopped and crouched on the wall waiting for the robot to turn the corner. The robot soon appeared and started to scan the area trying to locate me. I then jumped on its back and ran upwards to the back of its head. I held The Final Dawn upwards ready to perform massive damage if possible. Suddenly the robot's head turned around and it was now staring right at me. It then opened its mouth revealing its laser canon. At that moment I began slashing its head at massive speed. I then jumped off the robot and watched as the robot's head fell to the ground into eight large pieces. I then waited patiently for the rest of the robot's body to follow suit. Surprisingly the robot was still functioning despite the fact that it no longer had a head. The robot's body began slashing its giant saws at me with precise accuracy as it had with its head intact. I began jumping and dodging many of the slashes and ducking many more. I jumped towards the robot again and slashed it across the chest. I landed on the wall at the right and jumped off the wall towards the robot again. I slashed the robot across its chest again and landed behind the robot. Each slash made huge gashes across the robots chest, yet the robot still stood. I then made an effort to dismantle the robot limb from limb. I ran towards the robot at hyper speed and slashed its right leg. I then ran around and slashed its left leg. Huge gashes were made on the robot's legs which suddenly made the robot immobile. I rushed towards the robot and slashed at its legs again, this time the legs became severed which brought the robot down to the ground. I had faith that the robot was by now rendered helpless. But to my surprise the robot began moving on its arms like a silver back gorilla. It began crawling in my direction trying to reach me with its spinning saws. Each time one saw brought down towards me I jumped out of its way. I then rushed towards the robot's torso holding The Final Dawn upwards. At lightning speed I passed through the middle of the robot cutting its body in half. When I made it to the end of its torso I dashed towards the robot's left arm and sliced of the saw it had for a hand. I then dashed towards the other arm and sliced of that saw as well.

I stopped behind the robot and stared at it waiting to see if it would continue to come after me. Twenty seconds may have passed when I realized that I have disabled probably the largest machine I have ever come across. As I began walking away I heard rumbling and grinding noises which stopped me in my tracks. I turned around and saw the severed saws coming towards me making leaving long trails of gashes. I began running at high speed but the saws were catching up with me at a speed that matched mine. I ran sideways on the walls hoping to evade them yet they followed me chipping away huge chunks of concrete. I then ran towards the ceiling but to my surprise the saws were catching up with me there as well. I dropped from the ceiling and landed back on the floor and the saws dropped to the floor grinding their way towards me. It was if they were shadowing my every move. I made my way pass five corners with the saws directly behind me. I made it to a sixth corner when I spun around and decided to take on the twin saws. With the saws coming towards me at high speed I stood in the middle of the hallway and held out my sword. I stood still waiting for them to grind my way. The grinding sounds grew louder and in an instant two giant blurred images of the saws sped towards me leaving a huge cloud of dust and debris trailing behind them. The two saws sped past me and in a half a second I felt a jerk as my sword passed through the saw at my left. I spun around and watched as one of the saws fell to the ground in two halves. The other saw then made a u-turn and grinded its way towards me. I walked backwards towards the wall and held my sword sideways as the saw slammed into me. I was not dismembered, for the saw's advance was halted by the blade of The Final Dawn and by the brute force which I held the sword. As each teeth of the saw struck my sword sparks began flying as I tried to hold the saw at bay. I suddenly felt myself being pushed back into the wall. The more the saw advanced the further I was pushed back. I felt my back breaking the concrete of the wall behind me. The light of the bunker complex had now disappeared. There was now total darkness as I was pushed back. Sparked continued to fly the further I was being pushed. I suddenly sensed that I was in a new room. I felt the urgency and the need to put an end to this shit once and for all. I pressed my sword against the saw with all the strength in my body. The blade of my sword was suddenly caught between two teeth on the saw. At this moment the blade stopped spinning and in an instant I effortlessly threw the blade upwards, jumped in single bound towards the flying blade and sliced it in half. The moment I landed on the ground the saw's two halves came crashing down. I rose up and looked at my sword and found no scratches or dents on the blade. Despite an obviously hard fought battle my focus to find Jacob Vidor remained.

I discovered that I was in a huge oval shaped room with giant columns. Between those columns were doorways that led outside of the oval shape room. There were about twenty columns with ten doorways between them. At my right was the monstrous hole left by me and the giant saw after our battle. There ceiling was a huge dome and coming down from that dome were about fifty windows. Just when I was ready to take the door way that was northwest of me I heard slow clapping in a distance coming form the doorway behind me. As I turned around the clapping sounds became louder and was soon followed by footsteps. Out of the darkness of the doorway came a man dressed in a grey combat uniform with a katana sword sheathed behind his back. The man was about 6feet 4inches tall with short blonde hair and a strong boyish face. The gold in his eyes was an indication that he was among the Undead. "Well done," he said. "I expected no less from the Bride of Dracula. However, the defeat of my RX 3000 is a surprise and worthy of a standing ovation."

"Who are you?" I said.

"Let me give you a hint," said the man. "February 5th, 1990. A young Scottish girl was kidnapped from the relative safety of her home. The authorities spent weeks searching for this girl and on March 22nd of that year she was found dead. The cause of death was extreme blood loss. Knowing you, I'm certain you can come up with the identity of the girl I'm referring to." I knew all to well who he was referring to. Heather Hume was the girl was kidnapped that year in 1990 and she was found dead after authorities spent a month searching for her. What this man did not mention was that before Hume's death she was rapped. "I know who you're talking about," I said. "The girl's name was Heather Hume, age five. Not only did the autopsy reveal that she died from blood but also that she was rapped before death."

"Excellent," the man said. "Was there a little bird who told you that you would find me here?"

"I had a source who told me that I would find one, Jacob Vidor, who occupies 76 Avenue, King Street, Long Island. I doubt that I am mistaken with the exact address."

"Oh no, you are not mistaken at all. In fact, I was expecting you."

"Very well. Then I'm certain you know why I'm here." I rushed up to the man with The Final Dawn over my head. In the blink of an eye the man pulled his katana from his sheath and blocked my attack. At that moment both of our swords locked together. "It ends right here, Jacob Vidor," I said.

"So soon?" said Vidor. With brute force he pushed against my sword with his which sent me sliding backwards across the floor. I stopped sliding and reinforced my stance. "I know you're hiding her," I said. "Where is she?"

"Where's who?" said Vidor.

"Two days ago a girl named Madeline Hudson was kidnapped from her home in the suburbs of Manhattan. There's a demand for $100,000 for her safe return."

"Money means nothing to me, dear Mina," said Vidor. I rushed towards him again and threw fast strikes at with my swords. He blocked all of my strikes with his sword. After my engagement I reinforced my stance yet again. "May I remind you that Madeline's parents now have forty-eight hours to deliver the money into this asshole's account?" I said.

"That's very unfortunate," said Vidor. I struck at him with my sword was again in which he absorbed the strikes with his sword. He then struck at me with his sword at rapid speed. I sidestepped and blocked many of his strikes. We both stopped our advances and stood there staring at each other. "Stop playing games, Vidor!" I said. "Where is she?"

"I don't have her," replied Vidor. The smile on Vidor's face enraged me. I rushed towards him again and threw more fast strikes at him. Vidor dodged and sidestepped many of my strikes. Made a strike aiming for is torso. Vidor jumped over me and landed right behind me. We then began striking back and forth at each other with our swords. Vidor then jumped towards the dome. He landed about twenty feet away from the dome and sat on the wall. I jumped towards him in single bound and engaged with him once again. We struck back and forth with our swords and blocked, sidestepped and jumped over each other's strikes. Our swords were suddenly locked when Vidor said "There are 27 billion humans on this planet, yet you are troubled over one little girl." We struck at each other back and forth with our swords again. We soon stopped and Vidor said "A child can make no contribution to our kind. We search for those among the human race who are at the prime of their years and are worthy to make our race endure." After those words I rushed towards Vidor and threw fast strikes at him. He blocked my strikes and threw strikes of his own at me. After blocking and dodging his strikes we both stopped positioned ourselves in our stances. "Do you really think I would spend my years on this earth acting like a common criminal?" said Vidor. "Heather Hume was a target of opportunity when I first embraced my nature. Since then I realized the potential our race hand in dominating this earth. To me there was more to the vampire than just preying on the humans. These foul beasts are the source of the earth's problems. They cannot rely on a being in sky that doesn't exist. There must be individuals in the same shape and form that can put these cattle in their place. That is why my loyalties lie in the one was the creator of our race. One in whom you are destined to meet."

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"I know that it was Alexia Dakin who sent you here. Dakin is also loyal to our leader. Our leader would go all lengths to see that his adversary pays the price of a great injustice that was done centuries ago," said Vidor.

"Enough of these fucking games!" I yelled as I rushed towards Vidor. We engaged once again striking back and forth at each other. Vidor suddenly sprang from the wall where we were and landed on the other side of the wall. I sprang towards the wall and engaged Vidor by making fast strikes against him with my sword. He then launched strikes at me with a speed that almost matched mine. Sparks began to fly as our swords clanked at high speed. We both stopped and stared at each other. "Where's the girl, Vidor?" I said.

"You're searching for her in the wrong place, Mina," Vidor replied. I rushed towards Vidor and engaged with him once more. Vidor then sprang off the wall and landed on the floor below. I did the same and from there we continued our fight. I landed fast strikes at Vidor which he blocked with the blade of his katana. My strikes made him move backwards towards a column. Once we were next to the column we struck back and forth and high speed. I made two fast strikes at Vidor which he sidestepped. The strikes sliced threw the column cutting it twice. We both moved towards another column where I blocked Vidor's strikes with my sword. He then launched a strike aiming for my head which I ducked. The strike sliced the column in half. He then made a strike aiming for my torso. I jumped out of the way as Vidor's sword cut through the column upwards. He then began striking at me with his sword as I was moving backwards blocking his strikes. My back suddenly laid against the third column. With one quick move Vidor brought down his sword into my direction. I sidestepped dodging his strike. His sword sliced through the column making a huge gash. I then swung my sword towards his head. Vidor ducked as the blade of my sword went straight through the column. We then began striking back and forth at each other with our swords and moving towards the forth column. Suddenly Vidor landed a spinning kick to my face. I felt the heel of his boot ramming into my cheek yet I felt no pain. I soon landed fast kicks at Vidor which he blocked and dodged. We both engaged with our swords once again. I landed one kick into Vidor's abdomen which sent him staggering to the column. I then performed a flying kick towards Vidor, but he rolled out of the way and I flew straight through the column as my kick took out a huge chunk of concrete in the middle. I rushed towards Vidor as he stood in the middle of the circle. I landed fast strikes at him yet he blocked all of them. He suddenly grabbed me by my right arm and flung me which sent me flying towards a fifth column. I crashed right through the column, yet I landed on my feet against the wall behind me and sprung off flying straight towards Vidor. I collided into him and we both crashed through a sixth column. We fell unto the floor and we both got up to engage each other again. We struck back and forth at each other and with one strike aiming at me, Vidor sliced through the seventh column missing his target. We both began throwing a combination of kicks and strikes at each other. I absorbed and blocked many of Vidor's kicks and blocked his strikes. Vidor blocked and sidestepped my strikes and also dodged and blocked my kicks. Vidor suddenly rammed his sword into my chest. He pulled it out hoping that I would fall. I simply stood there as my wound healed. I then slashed Vidor across his chest which made him scream in pain. I then brought down my sword toward him intending to finish this once and for all. At quick speed Vidor blocked my strike and landed one kick into my chest which sent me flying into an eighth column. I crashed through the column and landed against a ninth column. I sprung off and flew directly into Vidor. In an instant we both began crashing into the rest of the columns. Vidor took the full brunt of the concrete with every column we passed through. When we crashed into the twentieth and last column we both landed on the floor. I grabbed Vidor by his clothes and flung him into a wall. I stood there in the middle in what seemed like ten minutes. Suddenly I heard the crumbling of concrete and Vidor flew out with his sword aiming at me. I threw up my sword just in time as his blade collided into my blade. Soon we began striking at each other back and forth. We both threw kicks at each other with no blows landing. We once again struck back and forth with our swords. With one strike we brought down our swords aiming for each other's head. The moment our swords clanked the room suddenly shook like an earthquake. After approximately thirty seconds the room stopped shaking and we pushed against each other's swords staggering backwards.

We reinforced our stances and began staring at each other. As we looked fiercely into each other's eyes there was suddenly rumbling. The columns began crashing down along with chunks of the dome. Soon the side of the circle was covered in concrete. We continued to stare each other down until Vidor finally said "You fight well. Those years under Hotsumi paid off."

"Where is the girl, Vidor?" I said. Vidor suddenly rushed towards me and from there we continued our fight. At high speed Vidor struck with his katana. I ducked and dodged many of his strikes and using my sword I blocked them as well. We then struck back and forth at each other and our swords then locked. We stared at each as our swords locked. In the blink of an eye I head butted Vidor smashing his nose. As he staggered back I rushed towards him aiming my sword at his neck. Vidor threw up his sword blocking my strike and kicked me in the abdomen sending me flying to the wall. I landed against the wall, sprung off and collided into Vidor. Vidor threw me off and we both sprung to our feet. We engaged each other again throwing fast strikes. Sparks flew each time our swords clanked. Our swords were locked once more and once again we looked into each other's eyes. In Vidor eyes I saw that he already knew that he could not achieve victory. Our then unlocked and with one quick swipe I took off Vidor's right arm. His hand was still clenched on the handle of the sword and as his arm was flew in the air it disintegrated into ash and dust.

Vidor screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. He began breathing hard as I slowly walked towards him. He looked up to me trying to maintain a strong face despite being in agonizing pain. "Now, where is the girl?" I said.

"If I knew…do you think I would've told you?" said Vidor. In the blink of an eye I brought down the blade of my sword and stopped it inches away from his neck. "Where is the girl?" I said.

"Surely you don't think that by killing me you would eventually find the girl, do you?" said Vidor.

"Where is the girl?!" I shouted.

"To answer your question you must first solve this riddle," said Vidor. "There once was an evil wizard. He took three women from their homes and transformed the women into three rose bushes that looked exactly alike. He then placed them in his garden. One of the women had a husband and three children. The woman begged the wizard to let her see her family. The wizard agreed. At night he brought the woman to her house. In the morning he returned and took her back. One day the husband decided to go and rescue her. He arrived at the wizard's garden and looked hard at the three identical bushes trying to discover which one was his wife. Eventually he discovered the answer and took his wife home."

"Stop the fucking games, Vidor!"

"Just think about it, Mina. This earth is populated by three races: the humans, the droids and the vampires. Each race bears striking similarities. One of these similarities is that they would go extreme lengths to achieve their goals. Through this riddle you must think of the three races as the three identical rose bushes. Yet, bear in mind the significance of the number 3." In a fit of rage I brought down my sword and off came Vidor's head. His body then disintegrated into a pile of ash and dust. The skin on his head soon became ash and his skull bounced across the floor finally coming to a halt at the mountain of concrete. I suddenly came to regret what I have done. By killing Vidor I lost the only lead I had to Madeline. I could not, however, allow this incident to wear me down. Madeline now had twenty-four hours to live and time was running out fast.


	8. Chapter 8

_**The following occurs in the year 3450**_

**Chapter 7**

December 14th, 3450. It was a day after my encounter with the perpetrator of the kidnapping and murder of Scottish native Heather Hume named Jacob Vidor. I felt that I have allowed myself to become a victim to Alexia Dakin's lie for Vidor could not lead me to Madeline Hudson's whereabouts. Instead all I got was a fucking riddle from him. Time was running out on Madeline and only God knew what would have transpired once twenty-four hours were up. I was getting desperate. My only option was to return to the Hudson household and listen to whatever feedback Madeline's kidnappers were giving to her parents. Once I arrived I placed myself on the roof of the house and used my heightened sense of hearing to listen to events that were taking place. I learned that Mr. and Mrs. Hudson had been trying desperately with the help of some relatives to collect the ransom money. They failed to collect the exact amount of $100,000; instead they only collected $30,000 via e-mail. It was now three hours to the end of the kidnappers' deadline. I listened as Mr. Hudson was alerted by an incoming e-mail on the family computer. I then hung from the roof and looked into the window. I saw Mr. Hudson going online as he was greeted by one who used the name The Fourth Horseman. It was obvious that whoever this person was he used the figure from the Book of Revelation to show that he represented death. I saw the conversation the brown haired Mr. Hudson had with the mysterious Fourth Horseman as if I was standing right next to him. This was made possible by my ability to see afar. The Fourth Horseman revealed that he was responsible for the kidnapping of Madeline and that he was very disappointed that Mr. Hudson and his wife had failed to come up the ransom money that he requested. Strangely The Fourth Horseman referred to himself in plural using "we" and "us". Mr. Hudson pleaded with The Fourth Horseman to release Madeline. The Fourth Horseman made it clear that the deadline was up, yet he decided to give Mr. and Mrs. Hudson an extra forty-eight hours to come up with enough money to pay the ransom. Soon The Fourth Horseman vanished from the screen. Though Madeline's parents were relieved that they were given extra time they were still distraught that she was still in the custody of the kidnappers. The F.B.I. who was present was suddenly able to trace the kidnappers' email address. It was revealed that the demand was made at 3rd Avenue Willard, Street, Brooklyn. I seized the moment to reach Madeline's kidnappers before the police and the F.B.I. could by running at high speed to Brooklyn, New York.

I jumped from house to house, building to building and on the roofs of many vehicles until I reached the Brooklyn Bridge. By that time it was 5:38 a.m. I looked to the east and I saw the sun slowly rising above the horizon. I did not have much time. Once day arrived I would lose all of my powers and become ill equipped to deal with Madeline's kidnappers. After crossing the Brooklyn Bridge I began jumping from apartment complex to apartment complex until I reached 3rd Avenue, Willard Street. By the time I reached the apartment complex where the owner of the email address was situated it was 5:45 a.m. The email was sent from room 234 in the ten storey apartment building. The sun began rising over the buildings when I stood in front of the building. Before the sun could hit me I jumped in a single bound to the ninth floor of the apartment building and crashed through the window. I quickly got up and found my self in the living room of the apartment. At that moment I felt my vampire powers slowly fading away. The adrenaline rush I had was now gone. I was now at a disadvantage for I could not pick up the scents of the occupants of this particular apartment. At the right hand corner of the living room I saw the hologram image of a touch screen computer. I walked over to the computer and realized that the computer was not turned off. I discovered that the computer contained the email address of the Hudsons. This assailant apparently hacked into personal information of the Hudson household. Whoever was the owner of this computer he probably had no time to delete precious information of their operations. As I slowly read the information I discovered information on Madeline's kidnapping! Madeline was described as "loot" that was originally held in three different apartments in The Bronx for two days. An online memo was issued to have her transferred to an abandoned port in Manhattan. However, the computer did not contain the names of who was holding Madeline captive. The perpetrators were using code names such as Black Widow, Iron Shield and The Chosen Ones. Who could the people behind these names be? I was certain that these people with the code names were in fact Madeline's kidnappers. But I needed to uncover their identities. The ones I suspected, however, were those among the vampire race. Just as I was about to turn around to leave the apartment I heard a faint creaking coming behind me. As I slowly turned around to see what it was I felt something pierce me in my back. It felt as if I was caught with claws. Suddenly I felt an electric shock literally go through my body. It was as if I was struck with about 50,000 volts of electricity. I could see the electric bolts pass in front of my face as they went up and down my body. I then began to black out. I dropped to my knees and tried my best to fight the massive electric shock but the lack of my powers made it impossible. Soon I faded out and collapsed to the floor.

After a while my ears picked up the muffled sounds of splashing and sloshing. My eyes were not opened yet I felt nothing below my feet and I felt the top of my head half covered with water. I then opened my eyes and saw darkness below me. I then realized that I was floating in water. In a single bound I jumped out of the water and landed on what turned out to be the edge of a reservoir. I soon discovered that it was nighttime and that I was thrown into the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. Whoever had stunned me in that apartment had later thrown me into the reservoir named after the late First Lady. Rage seeped within me. I was particularly angry at myself for allowing a faceless coward to defeat me. I did not usually let my guard down that way. However, I was successful in finding out who had kidnapped Madeline. The place of interest was an abandoned shipping port in Manhattan. I was absolutely certain that Madeline was there. At hyper speed I ran all the way to Manhattan to reach my location.

It takes me no more than three minutes for me to arrive at the abandoned port that was once a place where foreign goods were off loaded centuries ago. I used my sense of hearing and smell to scan the area of possible occupants. I moved slowly between mazes of old rusting containers trying to spot any possible suspects. I stopped between two containers, sprang upwards and landed on one of the containers. I jumped from container to container until I spotted the main storehouse about thirty feet away from me. There I saw about twenty men who were all human. They were walking in and out of the storehouse acting very suspiciously. In a single bound I jumped from the containers all the way to the right side of the storehouse. I climbed towards one of the windows above me and entered the storehouse. As I entered I landed upon on of several boxes that were stacked against the walls of the storehouse. I knelt down and used my heightened sense of sight to examine the scene within the storehouse. I discovered that there were approximately thirty human males, twenty of them armed with laser rifles, rifles that were used in the United States military, banned from civilian use. There were about six cars hovering next to them. They seem as if they were waiting for someone. About five minutes later two cars hovered into the storehouse. The cars stopped and about ten individuals stepped out and approached the humans. I picked up their scent and realized that they were droids. The leader of the droids, one with blonde hair and green eyes asked the leader of the human group if he possessed what he had asked for. The human leader replied "Yes," and summoned one of the armed humans to bring out what the droids had asked for. My ear suddenly picked up the muffled cries of a child. The child was female and her arms and legs were bounded and she had a hood over her head. I picked up a scent from the child that was familiar. This child was none other than Madeline herself! I suddenly felt a strong feeling within me that made my body shake. I wanted to save her immediately but I could not risk being spotted by the droids or the human thugs. I watched rather helplessly as Madeline was transferred into the custody of the droids. She was thrown mercilessly into the trunk of one of the cars; soon all the droids stepped into their vehicles and hovered off.

I began running over the boxes and jumping off them one by one trying to catch up with the departing vehicles. I looked to my right and saw the last of the three cars exiting the storehouse and one the human guards closing the door. That guard suddenly spotted me and began firing from his laser rifle. I flipped out of the way as about thirty shots from the rifle exploded into the wooden boxes. The shots from the guard's rifle alerted the other armed humans and almost simultaneously they began firing from their weapons. I began running at high speed over the boxes as round after round slammed into the wall behind me. Soon I flipped off the boxes and ran towards them with The Final Dawn in hand. Every time the humans fired from their rifles I threw up the blade of my sword and the rounds ricocheted off of the blade. I approached the first human who fired rapid shots at me. In the blink of an eye I chopped off his head. Three humans dove behind one of the cars and continued to fire from their weapons. I rushed towards the car and lifted it up with one hand and found the armed gunmen. They fired shots at close range into my body. I then threw away the car and at high speed I slashed them all into several pieces. As the wounds in my body began to heal I rushed towards a crowd of twelve gunmen and with The Final Dawn they were all eliminated. My ear picked up one round firing from behind me; immediately I threw the blade of my sword on my back and the round ricocheted of the blade. I turned around to find ten more armed humans firing their weapons at me. I flipped over them and once I landed behind them they were destroyed by The Final Dawn. The last four humans jumped into a car and began hovering away. I sheathed my sword, rushed in front of the car and stopped it in its tracks. I dug my fingers into the front of the car, raised it upwards and threw the car down the far end of the storehouse. The car slammed against the wall and roll on its back.

I rushed towards the car and found the driver and two other occupants dead. The only survivor was the leader. I sensed that his injuries were a broken arm, a broken leg and three broken ribs and he was bleeding from the head. I grabbed him by his color and lifted him off the ground with one hand. I felt fear overcome him immediately. The terror he felt was stronger than the physical pain he was in. "Who the fuck are you?" he said.

"Who was that man?" I said. The leader did not answer for he was still overwhelmed by fear. "Who is he?!" I said.

"He's Adrian Thorpe." said the leader.

"Where is he taking that girl?" I said.

"He's taking her to 54th Street, Uptown Manhattan and she's supposed to be given to somebody else."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me!"

"I don't know! I swear to God. I don't know!"

"What business does a man like you have with a droid?"

"I didn't know he was a droid. I swear! All he told me was to send some guys to break into that girl's home and bring her to him. And he said that if we did he'd promise us that we'd get what was coming to us. I just assumed that he was another vampire like you."

His words suddenly struck me. How did he know that vampires exist? "What are you talking about?"

"There was some guys who looked like dead bitches who was promising us that we would rise through the ranks on the streets if we carried out some jobs for them. These can run really fast and jump walls and shit. Once we saw what these guys were capable of we thought they could help us run this city, ya know?"

"So once you carried out a crime such as kidnapping, these guys could turn you into one them and no one, not even the police, would be able to stand up to you. Is that what you had in mind?"

"Well…yeah."

"Is there some sort of alliance between humans and vampires?"

"Well, we're not totally in sync with them. The people who are closets to them are a couple of droids who call themselves The Chosen Brotherhood."

"And where can I find The Chosen Brotherhood?"

"In the same area where those guys are heading. W-What are you gonna do to me?"

"We have a serious problem. You were caught in the act of kidnapping. You are to be turned in as a common criminal."

"You can't pin that on me, bitch. Who's gonna believe a freak who wouldn't even show up for trail?"

"I can see that these weapons that you have in your possession has been stolen. The possession of weapons such as these is a federal offense that carries life in prison without parole. I hope can find a good lawyer, mate." With those words I had him tied up in chains in at hyper speed carried him down to the nearest police station. The police found him hanging upside down from a light pose near the station with one of his rifles strapped to his body. I then began making haste towards 54th Street, Uptown, Manhattan. As I made my way into the heart of the city I was suddenly overcome with guilt. I did not know why I couldn't save Madeline when I had the chance. If anything happened to her, her blood would be on my hands. I also thought about something that I had never dreamed would occur. It seemed that there were those among the human race who were forming an alliance with the undead. How could this have happened? This was unprecedented. How could the ignorance of the human race reach to this level after so many centuries? I did not want to indulge in those thoughts much longer. I had to remain focused, for Madeline's sake.


	9. Chapter 9

_**The following occurs in December 3450**_

**Chapter 8**

I am now running at high speed jumping from building to building on my destination to 54th Street, Uptown Manhattan. I run to a possible face off with Madeline Hudson's kidnappers. I should have stopped them when I had the chance. I was so stupid! I never imagined that the androids would get themselves involved in a federal crime such as kidnapping. Ever since the creation of the droids the number of criminal offenders among them was relatively low. No droid has ever been charged or involved in the crime of kidnapping, until now. My mental distress was becoming stronger the more ground I covered. I was also reminded of the ambush I suffered after searching the hideout of the one who sent Madeline's parents the email promising them more time to deliver the ransom money. Who the fuck electrocuted me and threw me into the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir? As the pouring snow struck my face at my speed I was suddenly familiar with the address. The area was one of the largest junkyards in Manhattan. It takes me just four minutes to arrive from the old Manhattan port to 54th Street, Uptown Manhattan which was the location of a 2,500 acre junkyard. Upon arrival I was beginning to witness a large gathering in progress. I picked up the sent of about 2,000 individuals; all were droids. Bon fires were lit all around the middle of the junk yard and many of the droids were shouting and cheering to the words of a man in the midst. In a single bound I jump upon a huge pile of old, rusting vehicles. From a distance I saw that the speaker within the midst was one that was all too familiar. It was the droid who accepted custody of Madeline, Adrian Thorpe. What had transpired was a speech he was delivering to his fellow droids. "The humans have been fucking with us for too long," said Thorpe. "This time, we won't just sit by and watch our race be exterminated by these self-righteous, bigoted pigs. We have found an ally that's been fighting and defeating the humans for centuries. They have shown us that that the droids are the superior race and the humans are the fearful inferiors. The humans know goddamn well that we reign supreme in the areas of intelligence and longevity. This kind of shit from them has been going on for two centuries now. In order to secure our place in this world the inferiors must be eradicated so that only the droids will stand powerful. This time is our time to rise and stand firm, my brothers!" At these words the crowd of male and female droids of all colors roared.

I was still on top of that pile of cars trying to figure out how I would exactly make my move on Thorpe without attracting this huge crowd of droids. Just then I was spotted by a male droid in the crowd. He alerted the attention of the droids close to him and pointed at my direction. The droids in the crowd pulled out laser rifles and fired them at me. I jumped off the pile of old cars and the rounds destroyed those cars. The laser shots alerted many the droids and soon they about 700 of them drew high tech weapons and began unleashing them at me. Some were armed with large laser canons that fired devastating laser rounds that exploded on impact. About fifty droids armed with these laser canons fired their rounds at me. At high speed I dodged them and the rounds made huge explosions behind me. Immediately I drew my sword and charged the crowd. At lightning speed I slashed 60 of the armed droids. Those droids then collapsed on the ground into blood and robotic limbs. I then charged towards a hundred droids who fired their laser rifles at me. Using the blade of my sword I blocked many of the rounds which ricocheted off the blade. At high speed I vanquished them one by one. I passed through the crowd of droids at high speed decapitating as many droids as I could. In no less than ten minutes I killed 1,500 droids. The remaining droids began scattering all over the junkyard. They hid behind old cars and began firing their weapons at me. It was now becoming a war zone. About five rounds from five lasers canons were fired at me. I jumped out of the way and a massive explosion occurred when the rounds impacted the ground. I rushed towards the five droids who fired from their laser canons. The closer I got the more they fired. I kept dodging many rounds as I ran towards the large crane that the droids fired from. At the same time six droids that were hiding behind an old bulldozer twenty feet behind me were firing at me with their laser rifles. I was now about five feet away from the droids behind the old crane when one droid sprang up and fired one round from his laser canon at close range. In the blink of an eye I sidestepped the round and it flew right into the direction of the droids behind the bulldozer, making a huge explosion on impact, destroying all six droids. I then rushed towards the five droids behind the crane and beheaded them each. At that moment my ear caught the whistle of a laser round fired from a laser canon. I jumped out of the way as the round destroyed the massive crane. I flipped in mid-air and landed within the middle of the junkyard and soon a barrage of laser fire rained upon me. I was struck five times by shots from a laser rifle. I began running at high speed towards one particular pile of old cars where there were about seven droids were taking cover and firing their laser rifles at me. I rushed towards the pile of rusting vehicles and began slashing through until I reached the droids. At the speed of light I decapitated them until their body parts flew all across the area. It was at this time I realized that my wounds were taking longer to heal than usual. Before I could take this into consideration several rounds were being fired at me from a long line of scrap metal that formed a trench from about thirty feet away from me. I ran as each round made a cloud of smoke behind me. I then saw another old crane ahead of me which gave me an idea. I stopped at the side of the crane, sheathed my sword and lifted up the crane in the air with my both hands. I lifted the crane above my head and saw about twelve droids firing from laser rifles. I then threw the crane towards them and it landed on them crushing approximately seven of them. I then looked down at my abdomen and saw the wounds slowly closing up.

About fifteen more droids appeared behind the trench-like area and fired their laser rifles at me. Suddenly a round fired from a laser canon barely missed me. I rolled out of the way as the explosion made a lingering cloud at the side of me. I realized that the round came from an old watch tower ahead of me. I rushed towards the watch tower as the droid inside kept firing at me with each round exploding behind me. In a single bound I jumped towards the watch tower and landed inside. Inside I took off the droid's head and the droid's body fell twenty feet down. On the floor I saw the head of the droid and the laser canon it dropped from its hands. I then realized this canon could become an asset against my current foes that night. I picked up the canon and just then my ears picked up the sound of a round fired from a laser canon flying towards my direction. Immediately I jumped out of the watch tower and the laser round destroyed the watch tower on impact. I landed on the ground and saw two droids firing from laser canons in a distance. I ran as about five rounds exploded behind me. I then took cover behind an old truck with the laser canon in hand. I peered to the side and saw three other droids firing from laser rifles into my direction. I placed the canon on my right shoulder and fired a round. The round flew into the direction of the droids and exploded upon impact destroying the droids. In the corner of my right eye I saw a round fired from a laser canon heading toward my direction. I rolled out of the area and the round destroyed the truck. I then fired six rounds into the area with destroyed approximately twenty droids who were taking cover and firing from there. I spun around and fired seven more rounds at thirty droids who were firing in six different areas of the junkyard. Those droids were destroyed which each round I fired. Each time I spotted the droids firing from their positions I would fire at that position. Five minutes had passed and I was out of ammunition. It was at this time that nearly half of the junkyard was leveled down and huge clouds of smoke were billowing everywhere. I was absolutely certain that I have destroyed all of the droids. Suddenly my ear picked up the sound of running footsteps at my right. I turned my head to the right and saw about forty armed droids running towards the abandoned warehouse. Among them was Thorpe himself. I dropped the canon and at the speed of light I ran towards the warehouse.

Upon entering the warehouse I spotted one droid who spun around and fired his laser rifle at me. I took seven shots at point blank range. With the Final Dawn I slashed him until his body was dismembered three times. I then looked around and found the warehouse empty. Despite this, I felt the strong presence of the droids. I looked down at my torso and saw that my wounds were not fully healed despite the fact that about twenty seconds had passed. I walked slowly through the warehouse, sniffing with every step I took. I was picking up the strong scent of the droids that was on a platform at my left. I jumped towards the platform and crept along. Suddenly four droids appeared from behind the wall in front of me and began firing their laser rifles at me. I blocked the shots with the blade of my sword and charged them. One by one I took of their heads and dismembered them from the middle of their torsos. Just then a barrage of laser shots came down at my direction from the right. I began to run away as each round ricocheted of the steel platform. I then stopped in my tracks and faced thirteen droids on the platform away from me. One droid appeared and began firing his laser rifle at me. I dodged the shots and threw my sword straight at him. The blade dove into his chest and through his back; then I jumped across the platform, pulled the sword out of his chest and beheaded him. I then engaged the other twelve dismembering them one by one, limb from limb. I was soon taking laser fire from about six droids from the floor. I blocked the shots with my sword and jumped towards the floor. Once I landed on the floor I moved at high speed dismembering the droids into several pieces. One droid, a female, tried to run away. I rushed towards her and slashed her from the middle of her torso, dismembering her in half. I then moved slowly through the power plant and started sniffing around trying to pick up the scent of the other droids. Suddenly a round fired from a laser canon headed straight for my direction. The round barely missed me exploding into the wall behind me. I rolled across the floor and look ahead; soon a barrage of laser fire and laser canons were headed straight towards me. I ran towards the direction of the killing zone, dodging the rounds and blocking them with my sword. About twenty droids were throwing everything they had on me from every direction. At the speed of light I slashed them one by one until there was nothing but blood and body parts.

There was a silence that took over the warehouse that lasted for what seemed like eternity. The silence was suddenly broken by the footsteps of one individual. The individual appeared from behind a wall and began running away thirty feet in front of me. I recognized the individual all too well. It was Thorpe armed with a laser canon making a pitiful attempt to escape. I began to run towards him when suddenly Thorpe stopped and fired eight rounds into my direction. I dodged each of the eight rounds as I made haste and they made massive explosions behind me. At the speed of light I rushed in front of Thorpe stopping him in his tracks. Thorpe then aimed his weapon at me and in the blink of an eye I destroyed the canon cutting it in half with my sword. I then landed one massive kick into his abdomen which sent him flying into a wall. I rushed towards Thorpe, lifted him off the ground with one hand and punched him in the face sending him flying down the power plant. When he landed on the ground I rushed in front of him and kicked in his side sending him sliding across the floor. He stopped ten feet away from me; by now he was bleeding profusely. In a single bound I jumped from where I was and landed in front of him. I lifted him off the ground and threw him into the steel wall at my left. The steel wall dented upon impact. Once Thorpe landed on the floor I rushed in front of him, raised him off his feet by his hair and landed one punch into his chest which sent him flying across the power plant. Still holding the locks of blond hair in my hand I rushed in front Thorpe and placed my boot on his chest. "Where is the girl?" I said as I began to interrogate him.

"What are you talking about?" said Thorpe spitting blood. I began stomping on his chest which was sure to damage his internal systems. Blood began to run from Thorpe's mouth like a river. "Where is the girl?" I said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Thorpe weakly. With one massive kick I sent Thorpe flying across the plant once again. I ran at high speed into the direction he was flying. I stopped near the edge of a platform and soon Thorpe landed right at my feet. "Where is the girl?" I said fiercely. I got no answer from Thorpe. All I got was his labored breathing. I then began to press my boot against his neck with all my strength. "Where is Madeline Hudson?" I said. I received no answer. "Where is Madeline Hudson?!"

"Fuck you!" Thorpe gurgled. I pressed my boot harder on Thorpe's neck. "Go ahead, bitch. Kill me. I'm not programmed to tell you shit."

"Where is the girl?" I said.

"She's with Omega537," he said.

"Who's Omega537?"

"My creator. I was programmed not to release any information on Omega's operations,"

"Stop fucking with me!"

"That's just the way I was created, bitch. That's the way all of my brother's and sisters were created. And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Oh really?" With one stomp I severed Thorpe's head. His head began hanging over the platform by the wires and blood began raining down. I grabbed the wires and carried Thorpe's head over my shoulders jumping all the way back to lower Manhattan.

In five minutes I make it back to the heart of Manhattan. With Thorpe's severed head in my possession I intended to find the information of Madeline's kidnapping by hacking into Thorpe's C.P.U. which was within his brain. I descended upon one of my many places of refuge in New York; an old house in a deserted suburb. Once inside I laid Thorpe's head on the floor, connected the wires to a functioning car battery as a power source and reached into my trench coat and pulled out what was called the X-37 compact computer. It was a small device used to hack into the toughest online security systems given to me by a vampire hunting group whom I fought alongside with in the past named The Sons of Righteousness. As a gesture of appreciation I was given this device. I never really had a need for it until now. As I hacked into what personal information Thorpe had within his C.P.U. I discovered that Omega537, the group that created him and many of his henchmen was called Generation Thaddeus. Omega537 was actually an alias of sorts to hide their true name. I was familiar with this group. It was a vampire organization that operated throughout Manhattan. It names itself after one of the most recognized vampire organizations of the 18th Century called Shadow Land Society whose leader was Thaddeus Fredrickson. I came to the conclusion that Thorpe was created illegally in secret. Under federal law it was an offence for a private citizen to create a droid. What I didn't know was how this group was able to gather the materials needed to build a droid. Thorpe was programmed to find humans that were willing to undergo a transformation that would make them, not vampires, but superhuman. He found four individuals: three men and one woman. There names were Heath Simms, David Hamm, Colin Berg and Lacey Phillips. Thorpe's memory indicated that they were given serum used by the U.S. Military for enhanced strength and speed. What I discovered caught me by surprise. Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips were the individuals who broke into the household of the Hudsons and kidnapped Madeline! Hamm, Simms and Phillip were once members of an underground criminal organization that operated right around the area of the abandoned port. Their services were then surrendered over to Thorpe and his group. It was up to Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips to grab Madeline, keep her under the watchful eye of their organization and then transfer her over to Thorpe. I then discovered that the secret base of operations was a 105 storey penthouse located at 125 Ford Street, Manhattan which also housed an underground facility where droids were illegally built. The penthouse was owned by the leaders of Generation Thaddeus named Camellia, Sonya and Cecilia Hansen; each was 1,700 years of age. They were identical triplet sisters who led Generation Thaddeus for 1,600 years and three were of impure blood; victims of a vampire plague that swept through half of Europe initiated by none other than Dracula himself in the year 1750. What set these sisters apart from certain vampire leaders was their twisted sense of humor. Not only did they kill for their own survival but they also killed for their own amusement. In one case after drinking the blood of a young man they beheaded him, had him disemboweled and placed his head within his body. Another case involved them dismembering a woman drained of her blood and sewing her arms to the bottom of her body and her legs to her upper body and carving "CROOKED BITCH" on her stomach. To these sisters making new vampires were not as important as killing them and making sure that only the vampire was earth's sole occupant. The triplets had several covens in New York, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles each having their own leader. I have fought against them once in the year 2370. Their weapons of choice were the Wakizashi swords. They possessed speed that was almost similar to mine and often moved in unison. Despite their clownish personalities they possessed great skill with the Wakizashi. The next thing I learned of the triplets was that they were the masterminds behind the kidnapping of Madeline! Thorpe was actually programmed to find Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips to do the triplets' dirty work. Not only were these human individuals involved in the actual break in and kidnapping of Madeline but they were also responsible for providing security for the triplets. I was then taken back to the incident where Madeline's parents were contacted online by someone using the name The Fourth Horseman. Through the memory that was installed in Thorpe's C.P.U. I discovered that the identity of The Fourth Horseman was none other than Camellia herself. I soon became enraged at how low the triplets had gone. Kidnapping was not on their resume. I could only imagine what they were putting Madeline through at that very moment. However I did not want to dwell on the very thought that Madeline was going through absolute hell. By the time I was through with hacking into Thorpe's memory I unplugged all the cords that were connected to his C.P.U. and left his severed head lying within the room and departed the house.

It was now 5:35 a.m. with hours to go until the kidnappers' deadline was up and minutes until sunrise. I sat on top of The Chrysler Building in the heavy snow dwelling on what had transpired during the night. I learned that a handful of old nemesis known as the Hansens had orchestrated the kidnapping of Madeline. The Hansen sisters were illegally building and programming androids all from the comfort of their penthouse. They programmed Adrian Thorpe to recruit four humans to carry out the kidnapping of Madeline and possibly to cover their tracks. Apparently the Hansen sisters had promised Thorpe and his fellow droids protection and dominion over the humans that persecuted them. But what had they promised the human criminals? Suddenly I was taken back to the riddle given to me by Jacob Vidor. "There once was a wizard who transformed three women into three identical rose bushes. One of the women had a husband and three children. This woman begged the wizard to allow her to see her family. The wizard agreed taking her to her home one day and then leaving the following day. The woman's husband then set out to look for her and came across the identical rose bushes. Eventually he was successful in locating her." From this riddle I had drawn my conclusions. The wizard represented the Hansen sisters and three rose bushes represented the three dominant races on earth. The case of the woman begging to see her family was a possible reference to Madeline herself. In this riddle there is a heavy emphasis on the number three. This only meant one thing: the entire riddle is a reference to the triplets. Now that I had my information I was ready for a standoff for that night. As I sat at the top of The Chrysler Building this one S.U.V. hovered pass me very slowly. As I looked closer I caught a glimpse of the passengers within the car. In the front passenger seat was the leader of The Winds of Eternity, Alexia Dakin. In the back seat were her closest associates Vanya Bermel, Devan Hallet, Fran Ingles, Karris Meier and Dakin's second in command Erzulie Roux. As their vehicle passed I noticed that they were close to their windows and were showing me the finger as they passed by. As the vehicle hovered away I shook my head in disgust, stood up and began jumping from building to building on my way to Brooklyn.


	10. Chapter 10

_**The following occurs in December 3450.**_

**Chapter 9**

December 15th, 3450. A blizzard has descended upon New York City; one not seen in fifty years. It is now 7:45 p.m. and I am out for blood. It is not the blood of humans I seek but the blood of kidnappers. Thanks to memory hidden in the renegade droid Adrian Thorpe I was able to uncover the identity of those involved in the kidnapping of Madeline Hudson. She was kidnapped three days prior and the deadline for her parents to deliver the money was fast approaching. The kidnappers' hideout was a massive penthouse located at 125 Ford Street in Manhattan. It belonged to three of the most devious vampires ever to walk the face of the earth: The Hansen Triplets. Even though these identical triplets were the masterminds of Madeline's kidnapping the ones who carried it out were four humans. Before I descended upon the penthouse I decided to return the Hudson household to see what progress if any the F.B.I. and the police made in cracking the case. From the roof I was able to hear that Madeline's parents were able to deliver all of the money that was requested by The Hansen Triplets a.k.a. The Fourth Horseman. Looking through the window while hanging upside down from the roof I saw that The Fourth Horseman sent the Hudsons an e-mail complementing their efforts. Specific instructions were then given to the Hudsons on what route to take in order to retrieve Madeline. The Hansen Triplets warned Madeline's parents that they will be watched from every corner of the route and that if the F.B.I. or the police followed them Madeline would be killed. This route would begin from their house, all through the neighborhood into Manhattan's Freedom Tunnel. The triplets warned that The Hudsons will be watched as they move in their car all the way to 87th Beltway Street where they will find Madeline safe and sound. Of course there was something wrong with the directions The Hansen Triplets were giving. Thorpe's memory revealed that Madeline was being held at the triplet's penthouse at 125 Ford Street and not at 87th Beltway Street. This is was definitely a trap. At that moment I was at a lost. What was I to do? Whose life do I save first, Madeline or her parents? After some quick thinking I opted to run at high speed to 87th Beltway Street and deal with any possible threat that was waiting for the Hudsons.

I jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the neighborhood on my way to Manhattan taking the same route the Hudsons were to take. I finally arrived at 87th Beltway Street where the Heaven's Hand Cemetery was located. The fact that The Hansen Triplets would deliver Madeline to her parents in one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in New York City did not seem right to me. I doubted that Madeline would be found alive and well in place such as this. I hopped the ten foot fence in a single bound and walked through the cemetery searching for any form of life if there was any. I removed my sword from my sheath and walked passed tombstone after tombstone reading a few of the names that were buried. I have always hated cemeteries. To me cemeteries represent the dark side of this earth that should never be explored even though it is the place that one must pay their respects to a life that was lost. From my perspective a burial place is a reflection of great despair and sadness which I do not wish to deal with in this long life of mine. As I looked at the plaques and over the tombstones I was startled when this one individual, a male vampire dressed in civilian winter clothing and armed with a katana, sprang from behind a tombstone and lounged at me. I ducked out of his way as he flew over me with his katana. He rolled on the ground, placed himself in a fighting position and charged at me. From there we engaged in fierce combat. He swiped his sword at me at high speed while I ducked his strikes and blocked them with my sword. I then launched my strikes against him which he dodged and blocked and we struck at each other back and forth with our swords. The vampire swordsman launched strikes against me which made me move backwards towards one section of the cemetery. As I blocked his strikes another vampire armed with a katana, a female vampire sprang from behind a large tombstone from my right and launched strikes at me. From there I was now engaged with two katana wielding vampires. Though they both possessed speed and skill that matched mine I never allowed them to overpower me. Just then two more female vampires armed with katanas jumped from behind tombstones and engaged with me. Simultaneously they launched their strikes at me at high speed but I was able to dodge and block many of their strikes. I threw one kick into the chest of one of the ladies which sent her flying twenty feet across the cemetery and slamming into a tombstone. I then spun around and kicked the other lady which sent her sliding across the deep snow covered walk way.

I engaged with my two earlier foes where we struck at each other back and forth at high speed. At the speed of light I slashed them both in the middle of the abdomen making them disintegrate into ash and dust. At that very moment five more vampires, three males and two females, sprang upwards from behind their tombstones and lounged at me with their katanas. One by one they struck with their katanas at high speed. I dodged and block many of their strikes and struck back with my sword. Each time they struck I moved backwards. As I moved backwards my ear picked up the sound of the blade of a katana heading for my neck. I ducked just in time as the blade passed over my head. I raised my head and found myself engaging with five more vampires. We struck back and forth with our swords and one by one I killed them all. The two female vampires I engaged with earlier charged towards me and struck at high speed with their swords. In a quarter of a second I slashed the first one in the middle of her abdomen; I then turned to the other lady and slashed her across the chest. The ladies soon began to disintegrate into ash and dust. Just then ten more vampires came out from behind the tombstones and engaged with me. One by one they struck at me with their swords at high speed. I blocked and dodged their strikes and at high speed I slashed them all making them turn into ash and dust.

At that very moment I began to think that this fight was dragging on way to long. I had to save Madeline. I began to make my way towards the gate when suddenly about twenty vampires sprang from behind tombstones. They all charged towards me and struck at me one by one with their swords. I dodged and blocked many of their strikes with my sword; I then ran to the middle of the cemetery when five of them engaged with me in fierce combat. I engaged each with each individual and we struck back and forth with our weapons. I ended the life of each vampire by slashing each one a total of five times with The Final Dawn. Their bodies came apart in five pieces and fell to the ground in burning ash. In a single bound I jumped from the middle of the cemetery and landed on the far right of the cemetery. The fifteen remaining vampires followed suit and landed in my direction. As soon as they landed on the ground they each took turns in striking at me. I blocked and dodged each of their strikes and struck back with my sword. They each blocked most of my strikes and moved at high speed in an attempt to get me with their swords. At least three of them came forward and engaged with me almost simultaneously. After several seconds striking back and forth at each other I slashed each one of them leaving them to disintegrate into ash and dust. One of the remaining twelve, a female, rushed towards me and struck with her sword at high speed. I blocked her strikes and threw a few strikes of my own. We then struck back and forth with our swords and then both of our swords locked. As our swords locked our eyes locked for about seven seconds. Without warning the brown haired swordswoman pushed back hard against my sword which made me slide across the ground. I was shocked that she would have such power over me at that moment. This had never happened to me before. In fact, this was one of the cases where I noticed something strange happening within me. I noticed that whenever I was injured my wounds would heal rather slowly than usual and whenever I would try to move at high speed my movements were getting slow. I stood staring at the woman who pushed me back with the blade of her katana. She then stared at me and a smirk came across her face. Adrenaline shot through my body and I rushed towards her striking at high speed. She blocked each strike with her sword, soon I found myself engaging with another vampire, a male, who fought with a speed that matched mine. We both struck back and forth with our swords, suddenly he rammed in sword into my chest. The blade went straight through my back and he pulled it out. I staggered back a few steps holding my chest. I was bleeding profusely and the wound didn't seem to heal. I then looked up and found myself surrounded by the twelve vampire swordsmen. I looked at each of their faces and held firm unto The Final Dawn. After we all stared at each other for about five seconds one of them, a male, rushed forward at struck at me with his katana. I blocked many of his strikes and launched fast strikes at him. We then struck back and forth at each other and with one swipe I took off his head. Three others then rushed towards me individually striking at high speed with their swords. I engaged with each vampire slashing each one a combination of three times to the upper body. When their burning remains fell to the ground I rushed towards the remaining eight slashing each one I came into contact with. I then stopped in my tracks as the snow poured; after about five seconds the eight vampire swordsmen fell to the ground into ash and dust.

I stood there in the snow breathing hard in aftermath of it all. I felt the presence of no other vampire in that cemetery that night and that indicated that it was all over. I then came to the conclusion that had I not been there before Madeline's parents arrived this would have been the perfect trap for them and for the police who was sure to intervene. I then looked down at the wound in my chest. The gaping wound still existed and it did not seem to be healing at that moment. I could not understand why the fuck it wasn't healing. I then thought about Madeline. If the Hansens were to find out that their trap had been disabled they would surely kill Madeline. Before I left for the Hansen penthouse I carved a message in a tree near the entrance of the cemetery with my sword where I laid out instructions for Mr. and Mrs. Hudson to find their daughter.

I arrived in the heart of Manhattan and began jumping from building to building making my way to The Hansen Triplets' penthouse. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the triplets set a trap for Madeline's parents at that cemetery. Those bitches! I made a quick glimpse at my chest where I saw that the wound in my chest had healed slightly. It should have been healed by then. It really was taking slower than usual to heal. It takes me a slow ten minutes to arrive at 125 Ford Street where one of the tallest penthouses in New York stood. I stood on top of a near by building contemplating to best place to enter. From that distance I felt the presence of about 7,500 vampires who were the main occupants of the penthouse. Also I felt the presence of Madeline somewhere within but I could not pinpoint the exact location. After I while I finally decide to enter through the 30th floor. I sprang off the building and flew all the way to the penthouse. I crashed through the window of the 30th floor, rolled across the floor and sprang to my feet. I looked at the room where I landed and discovered that it was empty. However, I caught the scent of the Hansen triplets. I came to the conclusion that this was their main room. I walked slowly towards the left of the room where I discovered an elevator. I placed the palm of my hand on the pad that was at the right of the elevator doors. Once the doors slid open I stepped in and the elevator took me down to the very last floor.

After twenty seconds the elevator finally stopped and the doors slid open. I soon found myself in what appeared to be a massive underground laboratory. I walked past column after column of approximately 3,000 containers each containing illegally built droids. Half of the containers contained the endoskeleton of the droids and the other half contained droids that were covered in human skin. In another part of the laboratory large robotic arms were in the process of assembling the endoskeleton of the droids. I felt I had to put a stop to this criminal activity once and for all. I removed my sword from my sheath and began hacking through every container and equipment in an attempt to destroy the entire lab. I moved at high speed destroying all the containers housing the newly built droids and all the robotic arms that repaired the endoskeletons for the droids. Everything within the laboratory was sliced into almost fine pieces without the possibility of being repaired. I also destroyed the endoskeletons slicing them limb from limb. After about thirty seconds the lab was finally destroyed. The last thing I did was douse everything with highly flammable chemicals and set the lab on fire with an electric torch. Calmly I walked away as the entire lab was being consumed by the flames. I then returned to the elevator which took me back to the Hansen room.

When I returned to the Hansen room my ears picked up the sound of running footsteps all throughout the penthouse. I then rushed out into the hall and came across a crowd of sixty vampires each wielding the katana. I rushed towards them with The Final Dawn in head and literally sliced my way through each vampire. Before one vampire could make a strike I would slash him and he would fall to the floor in burning remains. There were about twenty vampires left as I reached the end of the hall and all were vanquished when I finally made it to the end of the hall. As I arrived in another hall I came approximately eighty more vampires wielding the katana. I engaged with each one blocking strikes and slashing them with The Final Dawn. When it was all over the hall was littered with the vampire's charred remains. I then made my way to an elevator at the end of the hall where I stepped in and pressed the numbers which took me to the 60th floor.

When I arrived at the 60th floor I was met by a large circular opening. I walked to the centre where I discovered that the floor was at the base of a balcony. As I stood I heard the footsteps of about a hundred vampires who ran to the edge of the balcony and jumped to my direction. Once they landed on the floor I engaged with each one at high speed. All of us struck back and forth with our swords but none could over power me. Through it all I reduced them all to ash and dust. Just then I heard a deep voice over a speaker system I could not see. "Well done, Miss," said the strangely deep voice over the speaker system. "As expected you broke your way through tough opposition. We know that you came for the girl. But what's the rush? The audience wants more entertainment. And what better way to feed the audience's hunger than with a fight between the great Bride of Dracula and the food she tries to avoid?" Judging from the short introduction I was absolutely sure that it was The Hansen Triplets who were using the technology to disguise their voices over the speaker system. It was like them to clown around they way they did. What the fuck were they talking about anyway? Who did I have to fight?

I then began to hear faint footsteps in four directions. From the pathway in the front of me came forth a man wearing tactical dress and armed with a katana. He was tall and handsome with black hair and green eyes. I looked to my right and I saw another man with brown hair and brown eyes also dressed in tactical gear and armed with a katana. I looked to my right and found a man who looked like he was in his early twenties standing in the walkway. He was blonde with blue eyes, dressed in black tactical gear and armed with a katana. When I heard the sound of someone walking behind me I turned around and found a young woman with blonde hair and green eyes dressed in black tactical gear. She reached behind her back and pulled out a katana which one was tucked in a sheath that was strapped on her back. "The persons seen before you are those who made the wise decision to abandon the human race and inherit eternal life," said the voice again. "Heath Simms, David Hamm, Colin Berg and Lacey Phillips have all agreed to put their lives on the line for the sake of our race. The first step for them is to eliminate the obstacle that stands between them and life everlasting. That obstacle is what stands before them right now. If you live through this, Mina, you can continue your search for the girl."

There was suddenly silence for about twenty seconds after the voice completed its sentence. I stared at the individuals who surrounded me and noticed a smirk on one of their faces. "So you're the famous Bride of Dracula, huh?" said the one who I identified as Simms. "I expected you to be a little taller."

"There is one thing I'd like to know," I said. "Why are humans such as yourself working hand in hand with those who kill your people?"

"You just don't get it, do you?" said the one to my right identified as Hamm. "The human race is done for. The politicians have been shitting on us for so long, always getting us into fucking wars and shit."

"The human race isn't what it used to be," said the one identified as Phillips. "The human race lost prominence and it lacks physical strength, knowledge and power."

"Generation Thaddeus woke us up," said the one identified as Berg. "They showed us that we as humans have great potential within us and that in order to unlock that potential we as humans have to sacrifice."

"Don't you mean basically committing suicide?" I said.

"You don't realize how lucky you are that you have what you have," said Simms. "You don't realize what people like us wouldn't give to outlast every pile of shit in this world and to be invulnerable against everything."

"We're willing to make that sacrifice to have absolute power," said Phillips. "We are ready to walk away from the shit hole race were once apart of. The only thing that stands between us and unlocking our inner potential is you."

"And now that we've introduced ourselves," said Simms "let's see if you're really as good as they say you are."

Simms, Hamm, Berg and Phillips all positioned themselves in their stances and I did the same. I looked at each of them in the eyes and unison they all charged towards me with their swords.


	11. Chapter 11

_**The following occurs in December 3450 **_

**Chapter 10**

Simms was the first with whom I had come into contact. He struck at me with his sword repeatedly and I blocked all of his strikes with my sword. Our swords then locked and we made eye contact for a few seconds. I pushed against his sword with mine and he went sliding across the floor on his feet. I then came into contact with Hamm who struck his sword at me repeatedly. As I blocked all of his strikes with the blade of my sword, from the corner of my eye I saw Berg rushing towards me at high speed. When he moved to strike at me with his sword I blocked both of the men's strikes holding my sword with one hand. I then flipped over them and suddenly I was engaged in fierce combat with Phillips. She swung her sword at me repeatedly which I blocked with my sword. She then began to throw kicks at me which I blocked with my arms and dodged. She then jumped in the air and a spinning kick at me. I ducked her kick and as she landed on the floor I threw a kick in her abdomen which sent her flying across the arena. In a split second I saw her landing sideways on her feet against the wall. At that moment I was confused as to how a seemingly normal human being could have such ability.

Just then the blade of a katana hissed next to my ear and I managed to dodge the strike. I spun around and found myself engaging with Simms again. He threw strikes at me with his sword at high speed, a speed I have never encountered from a human. I blocked all of his strikes and then got engaged with Berg who ran towards me at an inhuman speed. He struck at me wildly with his sword, strikes which I dodged and blocked with my sword. Our swords then locked and I pushed against his sword with mine. Phillips then rushed towards me striking at me with her katana. I blocked all of her strikes and soon got engaged with Hamm who held his sword in one hand and struck at me at hyper speed. I blocked all of his strikes with a speed that matched his and grabbed him by his clothes and threw him over my head. Suddenly I felt a kick in my back which sent me flying to the wall. As I came into contact with the wall I landed on my feet sideways. Before I could pick up myself Simms ran up to me and began striking at me with his sword. What shocked me was that Simms was running along the walls, a feat that no human could ever accomplish. Right there my memory began to jog. I thought about the information that I received when I hacked into the CPU of the android errand boy Adrian Thorpe. These superhuman feats that these mere humans were able to achieve were a result of the serum that they were injected with used by the U.S. Military for enhance strength and agility.

We both struck back and forth at each other with our swords until I saw Hamm jumping towards the high end of the wall where we were. His feet landed firmly against the wall and he soon struck at me with his sword. I blocked and dodged his strikes and soon struck at him with The Final Dawn. I kicked him in the abdomen which made him lose his balance. He fell off a few feet and then held on with his fingers; this shocked me. I thought that the serum that ran through his body was only used for strength and speed. Just then Phillips jumped in front of me and we both struck back and forth with our swords. I made a cartwheel on the wall and soon I got engaged with Berg. I blocked and dodged all of the strikes he made with his sword and struck at him at high speed with my sword. He dodged and sidestepped all of my strikes and he in turn threw strikes at me which I blocked with my sword. From behind my shoulder I heard the sound of a sword cutting through the air. I then spun around, blocked the sword with the blade of The Final Dawn and found myself engaging with Phillips who struck at me holding her sword with one hand. I blocked them with my sword with a speed that almost matched hers. I then heard Berg running behind me and I jumped from the wall to the floor.

The moment I landed on the floor I was engaged with Hamm who threw fast strikes at me. Soon we found ourselves striking back and forth at each other at equal speed. Suddenly in a split second Hamm thrust his katana into my abdomen and the blade came out of my back. This was not good for me at this time because I was still in a situation where my wounds were healing at a much slower pace. I looked at Hamm dead in his eyes and threw a kick into his chest which sent him flying across the room. Soon I got engaged with Berg and Phillips who threw strikes at me almost simultaneously. By holding The Final Dawn with one hand I blocked all of their strikes. Phillips then flipped over me and threw a kick into my back which sent me flying towards the wall. I slammed into the wall face first and it caved in. Despite this I felt no pain. However I felt something running down my forehead. When I touched my forehead and looked at my head I discovered that I was bleeding. I then realized that I must avoid getting stabbed or pummeled because I needed all my strength to deal with the Hansen Sisters.

As I looked up I saw Simms rushing towards me at high speed, he then began throwing fast strikes at me which I dodged. Simms then threw a kick at me; I sidestepped and his foot cracked the wall. I flipped over him and spun around to face him. In that moment Simms also spun around to engage with me and at high speed I rushed towards him holding my sword in attack mode. I ran past him straight and I stopped at the end of the room. From behind I heard a body fall to the floor. I turned around and saw Simms lying flat on the floor in a pool of blood with his abdomen ripped opened all because of me.

I suddenly got involved with Berg and Hamm who struck almost simultaneously with their katanas. I blocked all of their strikes and threw kicks into their abdomens which sent them sliding across the floor. I then got engaged with Phillips who threw kicks at me at high speed. I blocked and dodged all of her kicks and suddenly she threw a kick that sent me sliding across the floor on my feet. Phillips rushed towards me and threw a combination of kicks and strikes at me. I blocked and dodged all her strikes and swept her off her feet with my right leg. She fell to her floor and I threw a kick to her abdomen which sent her sliding across the floor and colliding against the wall.

Berg then rushed to me trying his very best to overcome me with his sword. I blocked all of his strikes and from over his shoulder I saw Hamm running towards us getting ready to join the battle. I jumped over Berg and threw a flying kick at Hamm. The kick sent Hamm flying straight across the hall and as he fell to the floor I jumped right over his body. I then raised my sword over my head and brought it down and the blade went straight into his chest. Hamm eyes widen and his head flopped on the side lifeless.

I jumped off from over Hamm's body and saw Berg rushing towards me screaming holding his sword up high. Once he came into contact with we struck back at forth at each other with our swords. I threw several kicks at him but they seem to have no effect on him. I then threw a kick into his chest that sent him flying across the room. I watched as he flew across the room and suddenly flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet. I then spun to my left and got engaged with Phillips who threw strikes at me at high speed. From the corner of my right eye I saw Berg rushing toward me at high speed and soon he and Phillips struck at me almost simultaneously. I blocked all of their strikes and flipped over them. Once I landed behind him them I was engaged with Berg and we both struck back and forth with our swords. Berg then threw fast kicks at which I blocked with my right arm. Phillips then joined in and began throwing kicks at me. I switched The Final Dawn and blocked her kicks with my left arm while blocking Berg's strikes with my sword in my right arm. I threw a kick into Berg's chest sending him sliding across the floor on his feet. I then turn to Phillips and thrust my sword into her abdomen. Her eyes widened as she went into shock and I threw a kick into her chest sending her rolling across the floor.

I turned my focus to Berg and rushed towards him, there we struck at each other back and forth with our swords. In the blink of an eye Berg slashed me across me chest. While the wound was not deep I scolded myself for my carelessness in allowing it to happen. I then struck at him at high speed which he blocked dodged. We struck back and forth at each other once again suddenly I stuck my sword dead centre in his chest. His eyes widened and he looked down at the blade that went straight through his back. I then pulled out the sword and took off his head. His blood splattered on my face as his body dropped to his knees and flat on its stomach and his head rolled a few feet across the floor.

I stared at his decapitated body for a few moments until heard rushing footsteps coming from my left. I turned to my left and saw Phillips bleeding profusely from her abdomen and running towards me with her sword in hand. At high speed we struck back and forth with our swords and I flipped over her and a struck at her with The Final Dawn. She blocked all of my strikes with her katana and threw fast kicks at me. I blocked all of her kicks and blocked her fast strikes with my sword. I sensed that she was in excruciating pain due to her wound yet she showed no weakness. She then jumped in the air, raised her sword above her head and brought it down at me with a yell. I threw up my sword and blocked the strike. The moment our sword collided with each other there was the sound of a loud rumble and the floor below us caved in. I was amazed at how much strength she still hand despite being mortally wounded. I then pushed back against her sword which sent her sliding across the floor. She stopped about ten feet away and then rushed towards me with a yell. I stood still waiting for her to make contact. Her screams echoed throughout the hall as she took each step which seemed like forever. I just stood there with no expression on my face and no feeling whatsoever. She reached about ten meters away from me when I suddenly I grabbed her on the chest and threw her upwards which sent her flying upwards. As she was in midair I drew back The Final Dawn and flung it towards her. The katana headed towards her like a boomerang in the blink of an eye the sword took her head off. I then rushed across the room at high speed and caught the sword in my hand. I then heard a loud thud behind me. I turned around and saw Phillip's headless corpse lying across me. In the corner of my eye a saw something drop across from my right and roll across the floor. That was Phillip's severed head. My duel with these rejects of the human race was over.

I slowly walked towards the midst of the area that was now littered with concrete, human blood and the bodies of my opponents. The moment I set foot into the midst I suddenly felt myself being elevated and it was surely not of my doing. I looked down and I noticed that I was standing a on a circular platform which was lifting me upwards. The platform was in a tube like shape and was about 3ft in length and about 5ft in width. I then looked up and I noticed that I being elevated right towards the ceiling. I stared at the ceiling until I noticed the midst of the ceiling of opening up. I was caught in a state of confusion as I was elevated right through the opening and into an unknown room. The room was completely dark, so much so that my extreme sense of sight could not make any description of the room's contents. Suddenly a bright light shone upon me like a spotlight. "Congratulations, Mina," I heard an all too familiar deep voice said. "You've made it this far. _This_ is where it gets really exciting." There was then deafening silence for about a few seconds. Suddenly a beam of light shone on a figure at my right. It was a young looking girl in her late teens with blonde hair dressed in dark gray with tan looking boots. Another beam of light came in from my left. In the midst of the light was another girl wearing the same clothing, around the same age as the other girl and bearing the exact physical appearance of the other girl. Another beam shone in front of me and standing in the midst was another girl wearing the same exact clothes like the other girls, same hair color and possibly around the same age. All three girls were physically similar, they were identical triplets. I immediately recognized the girls for I had battled them many times before. They were the leaders of Generation Thaddeus Camellia, Sonia and Cecilia Hansen; The Hansen Triplets.

I stared into their eyes and they stared into mine. There was no expression on my face yet on their faces they had the look of children who had just came home from the amusement park. "Long time no see, Mina," said Camellia who stood in the midst. "How are the holidays treating you?"

"Cut the shit!" I said. "Where's the girl?"

"Make a wild guess, hon," said Sonia who stood at Camellia's right.

"Since when did you all decided to engage in kidnapping for ransom when you probably have all the money in the world?" I said.

"Do you really think we would go through the trouble and hard work just to kidnap a girl for a measly $100,000?" said Camellia. "It was all in the name of getting you here to settle a couple scores. We've got people that have been watching you the whole time and it turns out that you really love these human kids. So we decided to use Miss Madeline Hudson as bait."

"Yeah," said Cecilia. "We all have to thank the dumb shits among the droids and particularly the humans for making it possible. It's just not easy to resist the urge to be vampire. You should know."

"So you kidnapped an eight year old child, put her parents in a state of panic, manipulated the humans and the droids, and injected top secret military substances into humans' systems all for the sake of fighting me?" I said. "You know you don't stand a chance against me."

"I beg to differ, hon," said Camellia. "Haven't you already noticed that you're not moving at the speed you usually move? Did you notice that your wounds are healing at a rather sluggish pace?"

Her words had struck a chord within me. I was hoping that she would not have sensed the strange deficiencies that I have experienced. "Where's the girl?" I said.

"You didn't answer the question," said Cecilia.

"Answer mine!" I said. "Where is she?"

"You won't get the answer from us so easy, Mina," Sonia. "You know that."

"Don't play any fucking games with me!" I said. "Where is Madeline Hudson?"

"If you really wanna know," said Camellia. "The answer lies at the end of this." Suddenly a light flashed throughout the room and behind each of them I saw three doors. "Behind one of these doors is the one known as Madeline Hudson," said Sonia.

"Here's the catch," said Cecilia. "This entire building is wired with 20 million tons of explosives on each floor encased inside these very walls."

"If you can beat us in five minutes," said Sonia. "Look behind one of these doors and you'll find the girl."

"If not, this whole building goes up and the girl dies." said Cecilia. "You'll probably join her or you'll probably survive with her death on your conscience."

"Remember, hon," said Camellia. "You have five minutes, starting now."

Simultaneously their right hands reached for their left arms and they switched on a button on their arms. Above their heads flashed a screen showing five minutes. They then slowly pulled out their wakizashi swords and got into their stance. I soon got into fighting position and looked at the huge clock above their heads. It said five minutes and suddenly a minute went. I therefore only had four minutes and fifty nine seconds left. I then looked at the triplets and they stared at me for what seemed like forever. None of us seemed to dare make the first move. I stood there trying to figure out my strategy because each time I encountered the triplets they changed their strategy. I looked back again at the clock; it said four minutes and thirty seconds. Time was moving quickly and I knew I had to defeat them fast before the penthouse was destroyed along with Madeline. I felt my right foot move forward but suddenly in the blink of an eye the sisters rushed towards me simultaneously in a blur with their swords aimed right at me.

_**HEY I'M BACK. I'M SORRY THAT I TOOK SO LONG TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER. BUT I PROMISE THAT I'LL CONTINUE TO UPLOAD MORE CHAPTERS. PLEASE KEEP ON READING.**_


End file.
